save the best for last
by StarSparkZ
Summary: what happens when the person no.1 on ur personal 'banlist' suddenly has a change of heart? what shld you do? r&r plz
1. New

Disclaimer: in case that there are any confused souls ard, plz note thati do not own the chars u recognise in this story... they belong 2 their creator Yuu Watase n com.others dat u dont recognise are solely mine. the story's mine (if anyone finds da plot silimar to their own, plz note that itz not intentional.) Thnkz.. read and review (be nice!), ok?

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Fumbling with the key, she silently cursed under her breath. What kind of hostel was this? The door might as well have been glued stuck! "Stupid," she muttered under her breath. Just when she was about to give up, some one came up behind her.

"Yui-chan! Do you need some help?" A chirpy voice sounded behind her. The voice was so familiar that Yui didn't even need to turn around to see who it was.

"Miaka! Yes, actually… The door just won't budge!" Yui complained gesturing at the stubborn rosewood door. Miaka stepped forward and turned the key a few more rounds, then pushed. The door swung open easily.

Yui stared, surprised. "Uh... Thanks."

Miaka laughed, "No problem. But you sure you're ok? You seem distracted ever since we signed in. Is something wrong?"

Distracted? Yes, indeed she was. Heck, she had almost walked into the wrong bathroom earlier! But she didn't dare tell Miaka. Not because Miaka wouldn't understand, but she didn't want to disturb her friend further. It wasn't her fault that she hated that guy, or that that guy had actually gotten into the same college as them. It was Yui's own sheer bad luck. Blinking away her thoughts, Yui gave a reassuring smile, "Iie… I'm fine. Maybe I'm just a little tired? I'll just nap a bit then I'll see you later at the orientation briefing, ok?"

Miaka shrugged. "Sure, I'm just in the next room if you need me…"

"Yea, sure! See you!" Yui took on a bubbly tone as she eased herself into the hostel room. It was lovely! Beautiful, deep blue curtains lined the windows, while soft, baby blue sheets covered the bed. There was even a mini breakfast table and a tiny television suspended above. This school must be rich, considering that the room looked like a mini version of a hotel room. Not bothering to unpack, she threw herself onto the bed and just stared at the ceiling. _You can do it,_ she thought to herself, _just don't let that baka get to you. You've survived so far._ Yes, she had survived so far. So far, she hadn't had a run in with him yet. That was good news. She just prayed that it would remain this way for the rest of the year.

"Miaka, you done?" Yui asked as she knocked on her door.

"Yeh, just hold on a second!" the muffled reply came.

Yui adjusted her ponytail, then studied her reflection through the mirror along the corridor. She had gone for the casual look, just a plain tank top and denim jeans. Unlike her other friends, she didn't intend in dressing up on the first day just to impress everyone. She was going to be just as she was. Just as she pulled out her funky looking mobile phone to check the time, someone broke the precious silence.

"Cheh! It's you."

Yui turned around and cringed. Her luck was definitely running out. It was him. "Yes it's me. Don't act so thrilled to see me, will you? I'm trying to ignore the fact that you even exist." She spoke coldly, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh? I have to say the same for myself. It would be nice if I don't ever have to see your face, really. It would save me my breakfast."

"Tasuki, be nice," Tamahome shook his head. "For Miaka's sake at least?"

The orange head growled, then crossed his arms across his chest. "Fine."

Within seconds, Miaka emerged from the room. She was wearing a pale-coloured long-sleeved shirt with a denim skirt. Of course, Miaka being Miaka was holding a pack of potato chips. "I'm ready!" she announced, "Let's go!" She linked arms with Tamahome, and walked with him behind Yui and Tasuki who refused to say another word to each other.

"Thank god you're out. For a second there, I thought that the two were going to kill each other off," Tamahome whispered to his girlfriend.

"Yeh, I know," she whispered back, "I guess they really hate each other. Do you know that Yui was so shocked that he was coming to the same college when she saw his name on the registry that she even forgot how to open the hostel door? She kept turning the key the wrong direction and looked so distracted!"

Tamahome shook his head. "That's not that bad, considering how I had to endure Tasuki's grumbling about Yui attending the same college. I just hope they don't end up doing the same subjects together! The sky would crumble upon us!"

"Totally," she agreed, then asked, "Ne, where's Nuriko and Chichiri? They got here too, didn't they?"

"Oh, I called them earlier. They're meeting us at the orientation talk." He responded promptly.

Back in front of the loving couple, was the not-so-loving couple. In fact, tension was so high. They kept glaring at each other, challenging each other to explode first. Finally, Tasuki was the first to snap. "Can't keep your eyes off me?" he smirked, "Well, can't blame you!"

"What?! God! Can you be more egoistic?" Yui hissed back, "I'd drown first before I even look at you in that manner!"

"Then you must have drowned," he said simply, enjoying the fact that Yui was seriously pissed.

She remained silent for a moment, containing her anger before taking on a mocking tone, saying, "Oh, wait I get it. Are you trying to flirt with me? Sorry, I'm unreachable. Try not to get too upset over that, ok?" She patted his back with a cold smile then increased her speed.

As they walked into a large hall, two familiar voice shouted out, "Yui! Tasuki! Tamahome! Miaka!" It was Nuriko and Chichiri.

"What took you guys so long, no da?" Chichiri asked, adjusting the weight of his backpack on his shoulder. "The talk's about to start!" The gang quickly made their way to a row of seats and settled down. Yui settled herself down on the only available seat between Chichiri and Tasuki, but not before she, quite casually, jam her foot down upon Tasuki's outstretched one.

"OWWW!!!" Tasuki yelped, causing the others to turn towards his direction. "Stupid Yui! You did it on purpose!"

Yui just shrugged her shoulder, with a satisfied look and plopped down on the only available seat between Chichiri and Tasuki. "Oops!" she said simply.


	2. Kiss

Weeks soon passed and much to everyone's horror, Yui and Tasuki had gotten into the same course. They even became well-known in school for constant bickering. Of course, that wasn't their only reputation. Tasuki had also become the renowned heart-throb of campus ground, and girls were constantly chasing after him, much to his annoyance. As for Yui, well, the teachers trusted her a lot, while she had her fair share of suitors that caused her much embarrassment. Like now.

"Yui," Seki Kazuhiko called, grabbing her by the hand as she entered the classroom.

"Oh, ohayo, Kazuhiko-san," Yui greeted uncertainly, trying to pull her hand away, but his grip just tightened.

Kazuhiko flashed a bright smile. "Let's go for a date after school. Just you and me."

Yui sighed. Every morning, he would ask her the same question, but doesn't he see that she just wasn't interested? "No thank you, Kazuhiko," Yui declined politely, successfully getting her hand back, then walked to her seat.

He settled into a seat in front of her. "C'mon, just one date? I'll show such a good time!"

"I'm busy, really. Sorry." Yui said, fishing for the storybook in her bag. Seki Kazuhiko. He was nice enough, but she really didn't want to go out with someone she felt nothing for. Besides, he was scary, so persistent.

Kazuhiko sighed. "Very well, I'll continue to wait for you." He then walked off to his own seat.

Yui went red at his phrase "I'll continue to wait for you". That was so sweet, really! It made her feel like some baddie, but still… She couldn't possibly force herself to reciprocate his feelings. If there was anything she believed in, it was to be true to yourself.

Soon, other students began filing into the classroom, as lesson time neared. Yui crossed her fingers praying that nobody else had seen her encounter with Kazuhiko. Miaka and the others simply didn't understand why she refused to give him a chance.

Time droned on and the lessons were truly boring. Even Yui, who always answered the teachers' questions, was doodling on her book. Just then, the bell rang, marking the time for recess, saving everyone the agony. Everyone hurriedly ran out of class, chatting loudly. "I had a nice nap," Miaka said brightly, causing a smile on everyone's face. It was so expected of her.

As Yui opened her mouth to say something, Kazuhiko addressed her again. "Hey, Yui! I was thinking that…"

"Oh shit. See you later," she muttered to Miaka as she hastily pushed through the crowd. To her horror, Kazuhiko followed behind too, calling her name. She quickened her pace, pretending not to hear. She would have to take refuge in her room. Turning the corner, she made a dash for it, but unluckily bumped into Tasuki.

"What's the rush?" He smirked as usual. "The canteen not good enough for you, high and mighty Seiryuu no Miko?"

Yui glared at him. "I don't have time for this. Will you just move?"

His smile widened as he blocked her escape route. "Sorry, don't feel very polite today!" he announced. Annoyed Yui growled at him as she tried to pass.

Just then, a distant, yet distinctive voice of Kazuhiko sounded near the bend. "Shit! I don't have time!" Yui exclaimed, a little panicky.

"Oh, lover boy after you? I wonder what he sees in you. You're just a…" Tasuki began, but was quickly silenced when Yui suddenly pulled him by the tie towards her and engaged him in a passionate lip-lock, catching him by surprise.

"Yu… oh, sorry." Kazuhiko trailed off as he left quickly.

After awhile, Yui speedily shoved Tasuki away from her. Tasuki looked baffled. "What was that for?" he asked, completely stunned.

Yui blushed. "I… I had to escape… I…" Then abruptly, she changed her tone. "Why did it have to be you? I can't believe it… I kissed a pig!"

Tasuki scowled at her. "Sheesh, you're considered lucky, ok! I was taken advantage of! Speaking of which… I didn't realise you harboured such deep feelings for me!" The trademark smirk returned. "If you had wanted a kiss you should have asked first, then maybe I'll consider…"

Pushing him aside, she warned him, "Not a single word bout this! Not a word!" With that, she stormed into her room and slammed the door. She sat on the edge of her bed, feeling totally stupid. That baka would definitely feed this incident to his already enormous ego and go around bragging to everyone how old Yui "couldn't resist his charms", and was "super despo". Wonderful. Of course, there was the other alternative. If she hadn't done what she did, she'll be doomed to be pestered by Kazuhiko forever. That guy was annoyingly persistent! Either way, both was equally horrible.

"I wish I hadn't done that," Yui spoke angrily to the thin air. This was yet another reason for her to hate Tasuki. Somehow he would always force her to do the ultimate. Like earlier. He was the biggest moron in the entire world! No wait, scratch that. He was the biggest moron in the entire universe! Yeh that sounded more fitting. She could already picture him boasting around… Argh… She would just have to do a better job avoiding him.


	3. What

"This is utterly ridiculous," Tasuki muttered to himself, unconsciously touching his lips. Why in the world did it have to be him? It could have been anybody, anybody at all, but hey! He had to be the unlucky guy who happened to be there at THAT time. Sure, he could have gone around bragging and teasing Yui about it or maybe further ruin her reputation by calling her a 'loose' woman, but the kiss really did affect him. He hadn't expected it to, but it did. Was it possible to understand so much through just one kiss? Funny, but through that one contact, he felt fire, felt hesitation, felt… Ice. It was as if he was given one glimpse into her utmost soul. Hesitation, he could understand why, but fire and ice at the same time? Fire… Passion? Ambition? Love? Wait. Were those even possible of Yui? Then there's ice… Bitterness? Hurt? Vulnerability? Huh? All these didn't point to him a Yui that he was familiar with. The Yui that he was familiar with was supposed to be the independent, cold, and proud girl, who could make it on her own, shutting herself from the world. But then again, did he even know that Yui? Who was he to say if it was a façade or not?

It was really confusing. Was all that she behaved just a cover-up? He didn't know. All he knew was that she really upset the mutual hate relationship that he had grown accustomed to. "Kuso," he cursed silently, shaking his head as he made his way back to class. Lost in thoughts, he had forgotten to go for his favourite time of the day, recess. Yui, pretence or not, was not going to change his opinion on her. He couldn't forget the coldness he saw in her back in the Shi Jin Ten Sho, when she had declared herself as the enemy of her best friend in front of all of them. Heck, she had even sent Tamahome to kill him! Wasn't she the one that hurt her best friend Miaka too? How could anyone forgive that? What she did was pure cruelty. Yet the others forgave her and regarded her as part of the family. Why? What did they see in this girl who was their enemy, Seiryuu no Miko? She didn't deserve any of those kindnesses the others showed her! If he had his say, she should be condemned.

Though so, all his life, he had believed in forgiveness. But was this girl really worthy of a second chance, forgiveness? Even after she had indirectly caused the death of Tamahome's family, destruction of lives in the Konan and Kutou war? He really didn't know.

Just then, a hard smack hit him on the back. "HEY! What are you thinking about? Where were you the entire recess?"

Tasuki growled, showing his displeasure that someone had snapped him out of his thoughts. "Nuriko! What's your problem?!"

Nuriko just beamed happily, and waved a hand in the air. Chichiri and the others soon joined them.

"Ne, Tasuki!" Tamahome yelled, "Do you know that you've been walking like a stone? You didn't even hear us when we shouted your name from downstairs!"

"Yeh, something happened, no da?" Chichiri asked.

Tasuki snorted and brushed them off, "As if. What could have happened in my quiet, peaceful life?"

"Somehow the words 'quiet' and 'peaceful' doesn't seem to go well with you," Nuriko stated, still with that big grin. "'Rowdy' and 'rash' seems more like it!"

Tasuki rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure." With that, he hit Nuriko's head with the stack of paper he had in his hands, earning a loud, resounding yell from his good buddy.

"I'll get you for this!" Nuriko screeched, "You've messed up my perfect hair!!!" Tasuki just stuck out his tongue and dashed off, leaving the others to stare in amusement.

Order only took over chaos when the sensei entered the class with a stern look. "I want absolute attention and prim and properly behaved class, not a bunch of monkeys." The teacher's eyes fell upon Tasuki and Nuriko, who were still trying to get back at each other. "Understand?"

"Hai, sensei," The class chorused lazily. They were used to the habitual strictness of the sensei already. Anyway, so long as they had Yui in this class, they were fairly safe. They could count on Yui to give all the right answers which pleased the teacher, so, by the end of the lesson, whatever punishment the teacher might have thought of giving to the class was forgotten. "Now," the teacher began, "Who can tell me more about the Meiji Era in Japan?" Yui promptly raised her hand and gave an excellent answer that brought a smile on the teacher's face, but a look of confusion upon the students. Obviously they had not done their reading on that part of the chapter yet. They were a bunch of incorrigible slackers.

Tasuki, sat diagonally from Yui, focused his eyes on her. He began noticing things that he had never noticed before, like how enthusiasm was practically bubbling from her, how she pushed her hair back in deep thought when the teacher had posted the question to the class. Also there was that quiet satisfaction whenever she could answer the questions with shocking accuracy. That girl was in love with studying. He had never really noticed that before. Now he knew that she truly deserved to top the level every year. Before, he had thought that she was a pompous, pretentious cheater who had cleverly copied answers in the examinations and deluded the entire school. Ok, so he was wrong about that. That was just about it. Right?

But hey oh, there was even more wrong that he had yet to realise. During physical education, when the guys were taking a break, he had stood at the sides watching the girls play basketball. The enthusiasm he had witnessed in the classrooms was evident here as well. Her skills were excellent. She pivoted and shot the ball through the hoop with great accuracy. One would think that she was being very uptight and serious in the game to play so well, but no, it was the opposite. This was talent, and she was playing with much ease in this friendly match. And it seemed like she was enjoying herself thoroughly with her friends, for her smile was so infectious that Tasuki couldn't help but grin to himself too.

"Whatcha smiling at no da?" Chichiri asked as he and the other guys joined him.

The smile immediately vanished. "Cheh, I wasn't smiling. I was just looking at how the girls play, that's all. They actually have some talent."

Tamahome raised an eyebrow as he looked over. Miaka was screaming and dodging the ball whenever it was passed to her. He laughed heartily. "Talent? Sure, Miaka has the talent of dodging the ball, it seems."

The other chuckled. "Yep, definitely!" Nuriko agreed.

Tasuki quickly averted his attention away from Yui thanks to the distraction, surprised that he had allowed himself to pay attention to her for so long. Nothing changed. Yeh, he had to be sure of that. Nothing.


	4. oh no no

Yui laughed. Miaka was hopeless! Beyond hopeless even! Every time when the ball came flying to her, she dodged with a petrifying scream, startling everyone so much that it always took a moment before everyone reacted to the ball. "You might as well be playing dodge ball!" Yui teased her gently.

Miaka pouted. "Hey, it's not my fault that that evil ball keeps flying my direction!"

"It's not evil," giggled their classmate, Katherine.

"It is!" Miaka insisted with such seriousness that caused an exasperated sigh from everyone, with a hint of amusement.

Yui shook her head smiling. Out of the blue, she spotted Tasuki in the distant court joking and laughing with the other guys. A flush immediately crept to her cheeks. What were they talking about? Surely Tasuki would be nice enough not to go bragging so soon? But then again, who was she kidding? This was Tasuki! The guy who couldn't wait to ruin her oh "Seiryuu no Miko's" life. Of course he had to be bragging about it, that she was a despo. Why wasn't she surprised?

Just then, a collective gasps and shouts crashed her back to reality. "Watch out, Yui!"

She turned just in time to see the orange ball flying straight at her, and caught it quickly. She let out a sigh of relief. THAT was close. See? The evilness of Tasuki. Just merely thinking about him was enough to almost cause her a concussion. She definitely had to be more careful.

"That was lucky!" Miaka declared, echoing Yui's exact thoughts. As fast as the lesson began, it was soon time for dismissal. But both girls, Chichiri, Tamahome, Nuriko, Tasuki, and their classmates Yuki and Kazuhiko decided to play some more. Moving to the upper court, they began splitting into teams. Through a fair round of "oh-peh-som", the teams were decided. Tamahome, Yuki, Chichiri, and Miaka (their disadvantage!) in one team, while Tasuki, Nuriko, Yui and Kazuhiko formed the other team.

"Why must she be in my group?" demanded Tasuki, with the usual grouchiness whenever it came to that certain someone.

Yui glared at him. "Not that I'm very happy to be in the same group at you either! But alas, I much more tolerant then you."

Tasuki arched an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me? Fine then. Let's keep the team this way. Let's see who lasts longer." Yui just shrugged her shoulder, giving him a bored look.

All these made Kazuhiko confused. "Hey, weren't you guys earlier making…"

An alarmed look crossed the duo's faces. "Making peace?" they hastily interrupted, "No no, of course not!" Tasuki cast Yui a look that plainly read, "This is all your fault!"

Kazuhiko, still bewildered, just shrugged his shoulders, "If you say so…"

Yui heaved a sigh of relieve which went unnoticed, then announced, "Let's play!" She tossed the ball high into the air while both team jumped for it. Even Miaka made a little attempt at saving the ball from her opponents.

Both teams very rather strong, though it was slightly lopsided, considering Miaka. In contrast of how they behaved, repelling each other constantly, Tasuki and Yui actually made a good team on the courts. Whatever Yui lacked, Tasuki made up for it, and vice versa. With the addition of Kazuhiko's strong defence, and Nuriko's strength in throwing high and far balls, it was not surprising that they won the match, but just barely, since Tamahome and Chichiri were speedy, while Yuki was accurate. As for Miaka, well, let's just say that she was one lucky girl. She made lucky saves and scores, like for example, when the ball came towards her, she would screech and instinctively push the ball away, unknowingly saving the ball.

The group happily chatted as they walked back to the hostel. Kazuhiko was only too happily to walk beside Yui all the way back. "Yui, care to go on a date tomorrow?" he asked softly, when the others weren't listening.

Yui coughed in surprise. Didn't he get the hint from recess's episode? "I… Uh…" she spluttered, completely caught off guard.

"Well, I know that you and Tasuki were kissing in hallway earlier, but uh, you guys aren't attached right? So you can still go on a date with me?" He spoke hopefully.

"Well, I…" Yui was speechless. He had caught her. How was she supposed to explain the kissing episode? She definitely hadn't expected to get this reaction from him. She thought that he would just assume and leave, but now? Oh god, what mess had she gotten herself into? She had kissed a pig with hopes that this problem would be solved but no, it didn't! Can she just die? "I… Well…" her eyes darted away, trying to think of a possible solution, but her mind had temporarily frozen up.

"So? A date?" Kazuhiko prompted, as patient as ever.

Yui panicked. Wasn't the floor supposed to open up like just about now to swallow her up like in the cartoons? "I…" she muttered hopelessly.

To make matters worse, Miaka had slowed her pace till she fell in line with the two. "Her answer is yes!" Miaka told Kazuhiko. "She's just too shy to say so, but as her best friend, I know exactly what's on her mind."

"Fabulous," Kazuhiko said, smiling at Yui with that loving gaze which made her uncomfortable. "Tomorrow's Saturday. So I'll pick you up at your room at 12.30pm." He then stopped walking. "I've reached my room already. See you tomorrow!" he said happily, jiggling with his door knob.

Yui could only smile back weakly. When they were a safe distance away, Yui let out an enormous groan. "Miaka, Miaka, Miaka. Please remind me, why am I best friends with you?"

Miaka laughed. "Because you love me? Because your best friend has just gotten you a hot date!"

She sighed. "But I don't want it at all. Miaka, I've told you umpteen times that I'm simply not interested in him. Sure, he's nice, but I really don't want to lead him on that I actually like him that much." She ran a hand through her silky blond hair.

Miaka frowned. "How would you know if you like him that much or not if you don't give him a chance? Besides, when was the last time you actually when out on a date? When you were still dating Tetsuya? That was like, last year already. Yui, are you sure you're over him already?"

"Yes, I'm positive." She said confidently. It was true. She hadn't been thinking much about Tetsuya lately, and she was long over that crying stage already. Though she wouldn't say that she was not at all affected by the break-up. It had affected her in fact; it showed exactly how to getting too close could get her burned. Of course, she wouldn't say that to Miaka. "I just haven't come across someone I really like yet, so I don't feel like going on official dates," she said instead. It was truth too, though not the complete one.

"Ok, if you say so," Miaka replied slowly, "But please promise me you'll give tomorrow's date a shot? Please?"

"Ok, I promise," Yui reluctantly gave her word. How could she ever refuse her best friend, especially when her best friend was just being concerned? "Ok, see you guys," She hollered, waving to the gang as she entered her own room, still dreading tomorrow.


	5. Pre

Yui groaned, burying her face deeper into the pillow. "Go away, I want to sleep," she muttered, shooing a shocked Miaka away.

"Hongo Yui! Your date starts in an hour! Get up, get up, lazy bum!" Miaka chided, snatching the pillow away.

"Not feeling well, not at home, not moving. Whatever, I don't wanna go…" Yui grumbled, turning to the other side. She just wasn't about to give in.

Miaka frowned. "If you aren't going, then I'll just have to tell Kazuhiko that you prefer an indoor lunch date and let him in into your room when he comes!"

Yui gasped and bolted up. "You wouldn't dare! Miaka! I allowed you to sleepover so can you at least be kind to me and leave me alone?"

Miaka rolled her eyes. "Yui, Yui, Yui. Surely you're not thinking of standing him up, are you? Knowing you, you'll never do that in a million years. So can you at least act enthusiastic for this date? Who know maybe after today you'd have found your prince charming?"

"I highly doubt that," she said stubbornly, but got up anyway. Miaka was right; she could never stand anyone up. She was too nice for that. Sauntering to the bathroom, she yawned. What was the rush? She had plenty of time to get ready. Thinking, she soaked herself into the nice awaiting bubble bath. About fifteen minutes later, she got out of the bathroom, much to Miaka's horror.

"YUI! What in the world are you wearing!" She had an outraged look on her face, as if Yui had just ascended from outer space.

"Tee and jeans?" Yui answered her friend's rhetorical question lazily.

"You can't just wear that!" Miaka insisted, and began rampaging Yui's walldrobe. After much difficulty, she appeared with a light blue cotton halter neck sundress. "There! At least this looks more presentable for a hot date! And oh, please upgrade your clothes. I had a hard time finding something decent for a date."

Yui's shoulder's slumped in disbelief. "Sheesh, Miaka, this is college. Of course I didn't come packing for dates! And no, I'm not gonna wear that! I don't want to give him the wrong impression that I was actually psyched about this date!" However, despite her protests, Miaka managed to persuade her to wear the sundress, threatening to lengthen their date.

Eventually, Miaka managed to get Yui to sit down, and began doing Yui's hair, and by the end of it all, Yui was a vision of beauty, all ready for the date. The blueness of the dress brought out her beautiful turquoise eyes, and her hair fell in soft curls, framing her face. Miaka clasped her hands together, standing back to admire her 'masterpiece'. "Yey! You're ready!"

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Yui sighed, and then plastered a smile as she opened the door. AS expected, it was Kazuhiko. "Hello, Yui," he greeted, "You look lovely."

Yui shrugged her shoulder, blushing prettily as she muttered a 'thank you'. Kazuhiko then offered his arm, to which Yui had no choice but to take. Then, as if it wasn't bad enough, Tasuki emerged from his room, behind Kazuhiko, smirked and mouthed to Yui, "Hot date! Have fun!" Yui gritted her teeth, promising him hell when she returned. She was so not going to enjoy herself!

Tasuki stuck his tongue out at the glaring Yui. It was all he could do to stop himself from staring. He was in a mild shock. As much as he hated to admit, Yui looked gorgeous! Stunning in the simple way. Was she ever capable of carrying off such a look? She looked like a true angel with those soft curls. Wait, stop. That wasn't possible. Yui? Angel? He had got to be out of his mind! That was just like calling a lion a dove! What was wrong with him?

Lost in thoughts, he made his way down to stairs towards the General Office to meet Koji. Koji had also gotten into this college but had been unable to arrive last term, so the school gave him permission to do so today. "Hey, is Koji here yet?" he asked the clerk, who blushed upon being spoken to.

"Yes, he's filling up the form," she responded, still blushing. Tasuki wondered if she was running a fever.

"Ok, thanks." It didn't take long before his best buddy emerged with a humongous bag pack.

"Yo, Tasuki!" Koji happily greeted, and the two guys did their routine bandit dance. Of course, it was cut short, to avoid stunning their audience too much.

Tasuki grinned happily. "Nyah, where's your hostel room?"

Koji fumbled with the plastic bag of things he was given, then finally fished out a key attached to a card. "Room 3, Level 2?"

"That's easy! It's between Tamahome and Nuriko's rooms." Tasuki stated, as he showed his buddy the way. Just as he was walking, a girl suddenly waved to him with crimson cheeks.

"Hello, Tasuki!" she called out.

Tasuki waved back. "Oh, hey!" The girl giggled and continued blushing as she walked past him.

Koji eyes lit with amusement. "Still getting all the attention, huh?"

Tasuki winced. "Yeh, and still hating it. To be honest, I didn't even know who that girl was!"

Koji laughed. "Man, you've got all the attention of the female population and you hate it? Well, that's really funny! If it was anybody else, they would have been most elated with the attention. You? You might as well just resign from the teen world earlier and just… Well, I don't know, go be some bachelor?"

Tasuki rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure."

In no time at all, they managed to enter Koji's room. It was similar to the other hotel rooms, except for the colour scheme. Here, it mainly brown. For Tasuki's room, it was mainly deep green. It seemed like the school had a lot of money to decorate each and every room differently. This was kind of cool, actually.

"Wow, the school's filthy rich!" Koji exclaimed happily, gesturing at the tiny television set, then proceeded to test the bouncy bed.

Tasuki grinned and nodded in agreement. Distractedly, he looked out of the window. It was a very clear day and the campus was bustling with activities, some students playing games, while others just had picnics on the grass, and some couples just sat on the benches and cuddled, looking at the people around them. Couples. That reminded Tasuki of Yui's so-called date with Seki Kazuhiko. Wonder how was it going? Was she surviving?


	6. right

Well, much to the surprise of Yui herself, she WAS surviving. Kazuhiko seemed to share much of her interests, one of which included reading. Yui smiled lightly to herself. If this carried on, then maybe they could be friends.

"Oh, and did you read that book written by Catherine ZeBul called, uh… Erm…" Kazuhiko began, scratching his head.

Yui laughed, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, oh! Is it the book that won an award recently! 'Wild Flowers'! I LOVE that book! It's so beautiful!"

Kazuhiko laughed. "What is it about? I haven't read it."

"Well, it's about this girl who grew up in a farm. She was from a broken family, and had always depended on her mother. When her mother died, her home was confiscated by her uncle, and she lived on a run. Along the way, she met the worst kind of people, causing her to become cold and bitter towards life. She was convinced that wasn't a kind soul in the world, and that she herself didn't matter. Then, one day, in a town, she meets this young man. Despite her coldness, the young man still talked and hung out with her everyday. Little by little, he melted away her wall of ice. They became the best of friends, then eventually decided to get married. However, fate was not kind to them. The girl received a letter from her cousin regarding her father, and had to rush back to the place she so desperately wanted to escape. The young man had matters to attend to as well, so they parted, promising to meet again in the girl's village. It was only a few days that they were separated, but it was enough to change their lives forever. When the man arrived in the girl's village, he was greeted with the horrible news of the girl's death. She had died in the crossfire between two rivaling families, and was already buried. The young man never got to see the girl's face again." Yui told.

"Wow, that's a sad story!" Kazuhiko smiled. "But at least the girl was saved from her own bitter world? So… that means that everyone has someone who will melt down their ice wall, no matter how thick or thin it is, right?"

"Erm… Well, I guess you could put it that way." Yui's lips formed an 'O' shape as she took a long sip from her glass of iced lemon tea.

Suddenly, Kazuhiko reached for her free hand. "Then… can I be the one who melts the ice wall around you?"

cough cough! Yui almost choked on her drink. "WHAT!" Oh no. This was not going well at all, not at all! Just when she thought that they could actually be friends, he actually says something like that! Letting out a nervous laugh, she said, "Oh my, would you look at the time! I'm late! I'm supposed to meet Taka and Miaka now! When, I had a NICE time with you. Gotta run now, wouldn't want to be late. See you in school!"

"Wait! What about our second date?" Kazuhiko asked hopefully.

"Umm… We'll see, alright?" Yui responded nervously as she gulped down the rest of her drink and stood up. "Well, see you around!" And with that, she bolted off.

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Author's note: Hey.. me still workin on da story so u guys continue reading alright? Haaz the com ate up my story so I'm practically starting from scratch.. yeh.. so patience, alright? But somehow I still liked my 1st version of the story better.. sad


	7. growl

At lunch in school, everyone was gathered at their usual spot, with their tray of food.

"Tamahome I'm sure you can't eat THAT much! Come, let me help!" Miaka drooled as she eyed his food.

Taka immediately used his hands and shielded his food. "No way! I just barely started eating!"

"But it LOOKS yummy!" Miaka complained, but Taka just shook his head comically, still trying to protect his food. After much unsuccessful attempts at attacking his food, she changed the topic. "Yui! HOW was your DATE with Kazuhiko?" she asked suggestively.

Yui groaned inwardly.

"I bet it went well!" Miaka happily chattered on, answering her own question. "No, not JUST well, but EXCELLENT! FABULOUS! They're madly in love! Boyfriend and girlfriend!"

"Future Mr. and Mrs. Seki Kazuhiko!" Nuriko exclaimed happily, grinning at the idea.

"Romantic getaways!"

"Lots of kisses!" Nuriko and Miaka squealed happily, growing on the thought.

Yui turned red. "No, no, it was nothing like that!"

Whether they had heard her and intentionally ignored her or not was not clear, as Nuriko and Miaka continued yelling, "Wedding bells! Invitations! Me, as bridesmaid, of course!"

"Now, now, let's hear Yui's side of the story, shall we, no da?" Chichiri spoke sensibly as the chatter slowly eased up and all attention was turned to Yui.

Now, Tasuki had been quiet all this while, pretending to be busily stuffing his face, when in actual fact, he was anxious to hear Yui's response.

"There was no riding off into the sunset of sorts. Nor did we gain a new romantic status of sorts. It was nothing like that. In fact…" Yui sighed, but was cut off by Tasuki's loud remark.

"Of course the above is not possible! I bet all it took was just this one date for him to be convinced that there was nothing special in you, and that all the while he was just wasting his time. Poor guy!" he simply couldn't resist a smart-ass comment.

Yui felt the familiar boiling sensation running through her. "Well, for YOUR information, Mr. Smart-Aleck, he WANTED a SECOND DATE! But that's not important. Cos' I don't feel anything for him! I'm sorry Miaka, but I just don't feel anything…"

Tasuki raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he continued with his delicious meal of ramen. So, she didn't go out with guys just for the sake of going out with guys. Feelings mattered to her. She was not the cold Seiryuu no Miko he thought he knew.

Both Miaka and Nuriko were clearly bummed with Yui's response. Miaka groaned. "But why? Kazuhiko's a nice guy! Haix…"

Yui just shook her head as she dug deeper into her food.

"No da," Chichiri just nodded with understanding.

Just then, the bell rang. It was time for afternoon lessons.

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author's note: Read and review, alrght? ) smilex always!


	8. oooo!

Tasuki was NOT paying attention in class at all. He was still thinking about Kazuhiko and Yui. Recently, he was learning a lot about Yui that totally threw his previous theories about her off track. And the more he learnt about her, the more he got confused. She was stirring unfamiliar emotions within him that was simply unnerving and unthinkable. She was Seiryuu no Miko! Shaking his head, Tasuki looked up and found his eyes drawn to the girl sitting diagonally in front of him.

Yui.

Yui was in deep thought as she chewed on her lower lip in concentration. Pushing her hair back, she scribbled down notes, carefully hanging on every word the teacher was saying. And the way she tapped her foot against the leg of the table. Every gesture was… Cute. There, he had THOUGHT it. Yui was cute. But so what?

Just then, a paper ball smacked him right on the back. "Growling, Tasuki picked up the paper and looked around murderously, trying to pin who was the one who had so happily threw a paper ball at him thus distracting him. However, there was no indication whatsoever as to who threw it, so Tasuki turned his attention back and smoothened out the crumpled paper.

_'Hey man, quit ogling! You are damn obvious!_

_-Kouji'_

Tasuki frowned as he quickly scribbled back a reply.

_'How can anyone ogle at the blackboard! Or do you happen to found a blackboard attractive!  
-Tasuki'_

With that, he tossed the paper back to Kouji who was grinning. The paper soon came flying back.

_'You know what I was referring to, man. You were STARING at babelicious Hongo Yui! Sheesh, one would think you would be more discreet about it!  
-Kouji'_

Tasuki rolled his eyes inwardly. Was he really that obvious?" But, Tasuki being Tasuki, was too proud to admit his action and instead replied the message with a _'what are you talking about! I was looking at the board! And you should too, the teacher's conducting a lesson!'_

Then, quite unexpectedly, the teacher voice boomed, "Kou Shun'u Tasuki! I want you to answer a question. Who is Caesar?"

"Shit," Tasuki muttered under his breath as he wreaked his brains for the answer. He vaguely remembered reading something about that guy last night, but now, his mind was failing him. "Uh, he conquered America?" he took a wild guess.

The teacher sighed. "No, that's not correct. Yui would you like to enlighten Mr. Kou Shun'u here?"

"Caesar was one of the greatest conquerors…" Yui filled in, all in one breath, as practically everyone stared at her in amazement.

Satisfied, the teacher nodded. Then, turning to Tasuki, she began, "Tasuki, I've noticed that your grades for history have not been very good. In fact, they have been below expectations. So, starting from tomorrow, I would like Yui to tutor you every other afternoon. In fact, I would reserve this room especially for your coaching sessions. Is that alright with you, Yui?"

Hesitating for a fraction of a second, Yui replied, "Hai, sensei."

"Tasuki, I expect your grades to improve." With that, the teacher continued with the lesson.

Just then, Tasuki felt a light nudge. Turning around, he saw Kouji grinning broadly. "Aren't you over-the-moon! Afternoons with Babelicious!"

Tasuki growled. "Oh come on, trust me. The only thing that would come out of these sessions is trouble; more trouble. And for one, stop referring to her as 'Babelicious', it's so… weird."

Kouji's eyes bulged. "Excuse me? Are you blind or something? If Yui isn't considered babelicious then I don't know who else can be qualified already. And in case you haven't notice, practically three-quarter of the male and breathing in this room share my opinion. Admit it. Yui's a babe."

Tasuki rolled his eyes. "Argh! I can't be bothered with you! Trust me, these sessions are gonna bring nothing but trouble! I'm not looking forward to them." He could almost picture those sessions, and no matter how he pictured, they somehow always ended with the throwing of a chair. Fabulous, just fabulous.

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author's note: hey hey I'm updating so continue reviewing alrite? Thnkz so much! ) wEEeeeeEEE! current favourite song: yubiwa- frm escaflowne the movie


	9. tsktsk

"You're late," Yui said flatly to Tasuki as he skidded to a halt into the classroom.

"Hey, I'm sorry, ok? I had to see my basketball coach before this, alright." He panted as he settled into a seat at the back of the classroom.

"Excuses, excuses…" she muttered as she flipped open her history textbook. Unfortunately, Tasuki caught that.

"What do you mean excuses? Are you saying that I'm a liar?" He growled.

"No… Arghh! Never mind! Why do I even bother explaining? And would you please not sit so far back? How am I to coach you if you are so far away?" She asked impatiently.

"Cheh! Who wants a coach like you? I didn't even ask for **YOU** to coach me!" He snorted as he rested his legs on the table.

"Please stop talking as if **_I_** wanted to teach **YOU** in the first place. Honestly, if YOU had scored well, we wouldn't even be here!" Yui gritted her teeth.

"Can I help it that this school teaches European history and Japan history instead of China's history!"

Yui glared. "Well, you could at least _try_! If you would just cooperate with me, then maybe your grades will improve by the next test, and THEN we wouldn't have to meet for the afternoons!"

Tasuki just leaned back in his chair, and for a while, he did not speak. Then, finally, he smirked. "Ok, fine. The thought of not meeting you is very motivational. So let's get on with it!"

Yui sat herself firmly on the teacher's table. "Get on with it, huh? Well, we can '_get on with_ _it_' IF you move over here."

Tasuki rolled his eyes, with that ever present smirk on his face. "Like you said _IF_ **you** move over here…"

Yui stared at him, barely containing the urge to just throw the heavy history textbook at him. This was getting nowhere. And she had two options. One, give in to him, or two, continue fighting with him. Seriously, she would have chosen the first option if the person in question was NOT Tasuki.

"We haven't got ALL day, you know, Miss Hongo Yui aka Seiryuu no Miko!"

Yui clenched her fist, swallowing her pride. It wouldn't do any of them good if she continued arguing with him. For one, the longer they argued, the longer she had to see him. So, she walked over to him and sat directly opposite him. "Alright, I'm going to let that pass. NOW, where's your history textbook?"

Tasuki raised an eyebrow coolly and in response said, "Oh, that? Well, I kinda forgot to bring it."

"You know what, that's it! I quit!" Yui yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. "How can you expect me to teach you without a history textbook" She now had a third option—to walk out. She had had enough. Well, actually, if she were to be REALLY nice, she could have shared her own textbook with him, but the problem was, she didn't want to! No way was she going to give in all the way as if to please him! Please! Hongo Yui is not nice to mess with! And she just walked out.

Tasuki gaped at the still swing door Yui had exited from in shock. Never had he expected the frail-looking girl to just throw her temper at him, Tasuki! That change things slightly. Maybe Yui wasn't that much of a push-over that he thought, grinning slightly. This was getting interesting.

- - - --

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Yui screamed into her pillow. She was so frustrated! She absolutely detested Kou Shun'u Tasuki! That arrogant, overbearing guy with that forever present smirk! Why did he have to always be this irritating! Ever since DAY ONE he had done nothing but make her life miserable. He either scowled or mocked at the slightest things she did and said, or he simply ignored her, treating her as a speck of dust on the table. "Why couldn't he have just STAYED out of my life?"

Things would have been so much better.

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author's note: yay! Continue reviewin n I'll continue updating.. suggestions are welcomed in improving da story hugs love u guys! )


	10. hmmmm

"Whoa so you guys didn't have a tutoring session yesterday?" Kouji asked over food the next day.

"Obviously not," Yui cut in, shooting a look at Tasuki, "as if it was even possible."

Tasuki chose to ignore her as he just chomped on his tempura set blissfully. The ebi was REAAALLY nice!

"Ok… But wouldn't you two get into trouble, then?" Nuriko wondered.

Yui just shrugged her shoulder as she too, adopted an air of aloofness and just concentrated on stirring her miso soup. She didn't want to dwell on the matter any longer.

Throughout the entire lunch break, everyone was chattering happily and only Tasuki and Yui remained quiet, busying themselves with their food. And it was a little strange, considering that Tasuki was usually one of the noise contributors at the table.

Across the table, Miaka felt a nudge on her right side. Turning slightly, she gave a questioning look to Nuriko, who in turn gestured discreetly at Kouji who was grinning.

"Kouji came up with an _interesting_ theory," Nuriko informed.

"I think… I think that Tasuki has some sort of thing for Yui!" Kouji whispered, trying not to appear too obvious.

At that, Miaka choked on her green tea and started laughing. cough cough "HAHAHA! Sorry, but I thought you said that Tasuki might be interested in Yui!" Luckily, the others at the table were too involved in their own conversations so no one heard Miaka's relatively loud outburst.

"That's what I said!"

Miaka gaped. "But you can't be serious! Why would he…? How do you know?"

"That's **exactly** how I reacted a moment ago." Nuriko piped in.

"But it's true! I realized that these past few days, he has been spacing out quite a bit, and just caught him staring at Yui in class yesterday and earlier today! And look, the whole break he has been unnaturally quiet. And guess who he's looking at again?" Kouji spoke convincingly.

Miaka looked up. Sure enough, Tasuki was looking at Yui. Yes, it was a brief glance, but it was definitely there. But did this even mean that he liked Yui? "So what?" Miaka asked finally. "I mean, it's definite that Yui should be with Kazuhiko. He's so nice to her!"

"But Tasuki's our friend!" Kouji disagreed. "Look at it this way—you want Yui to get over her past with Tetsuya. If she gets together with Kazuhiko, then she _might_ get over it. Or she could get together with Tasuki, and not only will she move on, WE will be rid of Tasuki and Yui's constant bicker sessions. That's two times the good done. Doesn't it make sense to root for a Tasuki and Yui pairing instead?"

"You think that would work?" Nuriko asked doubtfully. "I mean, the both of them have hated each other since like the day they met! I'm actually quite uncertain about this whole theory of Tasuki liking Yui. I mean, if he liked her, wouldn't it have been somewhat obvious? "

"Maybe he has been quarreling with her too much that he doesn't know how to _stop_ and make peace. You know, I bet he's not even more convinced about these feelings anymore than you guys are," Kouji reasoned thoughtfully.

Miaka was quiet for a moment. "Well, it does make some sense…" Then after awhile, as if considering the idea, she suddenly burst into a wide grin. "I like! I mean… No more quarrels, forever sparing our ears? Oh yes! Hahahaha! Besides, it'll do both of them some good. I'm all in for the idea! So what do you say we play matchmakers?"

Nuriko laughed. "Alright! So what shall we do?"

"Oh, I've got just the plan! Listen…" And with that, Miaka divulged her master plan to both Nuriko and Kouji.

"So it's…" Kouji began.

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author's note: hey ppl, thankz 4 da reviews!  
'**lady yui**' thankz 4 ya suggestions! You'll definitely see more of the other chars yar.. and some bloomin l-o-v-e soon! Ahhaz hmm.. as 4 ya suggestion of havin a love triangle, I'll consider it.. well, we'll see how the story goes? Lolx

Every1, keep reading! hugs!


	11. not bad

"…meet at 7.30pm at SeKi Mall tomorrow after school." Miaka informed Yui, passing to her a ticket the next morning.

Yui took the ticket. "The movie is 'Second Time Around'? I heard it's nice!"

"Yeh, so you're going right? No, wait. You have to go especially since we've already bought your ticket!"

Yui laughed. "Alright, alright, I'll go."

Miaka beamed. "Fabulous!"

And at the same time somewhere on the other side of the school near the basketball area, Kouji was telling the same thing to Tasuki.

"Yeh, ok, got it already!" Tasuki frowned, getting irritated at Kouji for asking and asking.

"Confirm? As in no backing out? Ha! Either way, you don't have a say! You've already paid me for the ticket!" Kouji grinned.

"Yeah, ok, whatever! Let's get moving already. I don't want to be late lest the LADY YUI decides to bite off my head again!" Tasuki slung his backpack over his shoulder and began walking towards the venue.

- - - - - - - - -- - - -

Yui was standing at the door, drumming her fingers on her arm, staring at the clock. Miaka had left quite awhile ago, on her way to meet Taka. Five more minutes before Tasuki is officially late again. And there was a high-likely chance that he WOULD be late again. Not that she wanted to see him, of course, it was just that… Well, she wanted to go off early.

The minutes ticked by. 20 seconds… 15 seconds… Then, all of a sudden, WHAM!

"Ouch!" Yui exclaimed, shocked.

"Oh, well, sorry about that!" the person who banged into her spoke.

Yui looked up. It was Tasuki. She glared at him. "Couldn't you have been more careful?"

"Well, if I was all THAT careful, then I would have been late for LADY YUI'S tutoring sessions, wouldn't I?" Tasuki smirked.

Yui dragged him in. "Ok, ok. Now, have you brought your textbook **THIS** time?"

"Well… What do you think? Of course not! I can't be bothered to lag such a heavy boo-" Tasuki began but was interrupted.

"End of lesson!" Yui cut in curtly, and turned to leave.

"Wait, wait!" Tasuki yelled. "Alright, alright, I DID bring my textbook! But I wasn't kidding when I said it was heavy!"

A slow, barely noticeable smile crept on Yui's face. It wasn't as if she didn't know that he HAD brought his book. Afterall, the book peeking out of his sloppily unclosed bag did read 'Ancient History'… Whirling around, she chirped, "Good! _Now_ we can start!"

Tasuki scratched his head at Yui's sudden cheeriness. Maybe this session wouldn't turn out so bad afterall.

"Ok, turn to page 31 and we can start on History of Russia," Yui instructed as she too flipped open her own copy of the textbook and began to tutor Tasuki.

After a few hours…

"Ok, so this was why Russia became a communist state?" Tasuki asked, still looking a little confused as he ran his hand through his thick, messy orange hair.

"Yeah, that's right," Yui answered his question. "You know, if you are still a little doubtful, you can do a little research in the school library." she suggested.

"Hmm, I'll consider that…" Tasuki agreed as their tutorial came to an end. Both Tasuki and Yui closed their books at the same time and walked out of the classroom. This was the first time both of them weren't trying to kill each other and were actually getting along.

As they both walked off in the opposite direction, one thought remained in their minds—"Maybe he/she isn't so bad afterall."

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author's note:  
thnkz 4 da reviews, ppl! big hug ahahahz  
**FlonTed**: hey, thnkz 4 ya suggestion! nuriko's one of mi fav characters so I'll nv omit him! Oh, btw, nuriko's a he in this story.. so I guess there wont b a possibility of a nuri/tas yeh.. )  
EVERYONE, like I said, keep reading, keep reviewing, keep smiling! smilex


	12. sorry dat chpt is short!

The next day, Miaka couldn't contain her excitement. "IT'S TODAY!" she squealed, shaking her boyfriend.

"Wha- What is today?" Taka wondered, staring at his awfully hyper girlfriend suspiciously. But then again, Miaka has ALWAYS been hyper. But he could tell that something was different.

"You DON'T KNOW?" Miaka demanded. "It's the plan…" Then, quite suddenly, she stopped. "Oh, right… You DON'T know!"

"Huh? What don't I know?"

Miaka just gave a sweet smile. "Oh, well. I mean. You ought to know of the plan to bring me out for a FABULOUS dinner tonight!"

"Huh! Since when did I say that?" Taka asked, feeling a little defensive over his dear omake.

Miaka tugged his arm. "Well, you told me last night in my dreams!"

Taka fell in the typical anime-comical-style. "Uh… That counts…?" But he knew there was no arguing with Miaka. Nobody would be in the right frame of mind to argue with Miaka over FOOD. It just simply wouldn't get anywhere.

"Duh!" Miaka laughed. "Come on, let's get along now!"

"Uh…" Tears began to flow out of his eyes. "My money…"

Miaka smiled to herself. It was THE day. She couldn't wait to put the plan in motion. It would definitely be interesting.

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author's note: ok, I'm really sorry 4 da short chappie! But I've been really busy with all the common tests plus I've been sick recently.. so… pardon me? Hahaz I promise a much longer 1 the next time round! Really )


	13. plan plan!

"Yui! You can't possibly want to wear THAT!" Miaka fussed. "It wouldn't kill you to wear something remotely nice, right?"

Yui stared. "And WHAT is so not nice about this pair of cargo? It's retro!"

Miaka sighed. "But…"

"It's not as if we're going for a musical, you know! And besides, you're dressing plain too!" Yui pointed out.

"Well… But it's different! I mean…" Miaka began, but decided to stop there JUST in case.

Yui narrowed her eyes. "You AREN'T planning to set me up on a date with Kazuhiko, are you?"

Miaka almost laughed. It was ironic. "Umm… No, me? I wouldn't ever, I repeat, EVER think of doing such a thing to you! Uh, uh. Absolutely not!" And as she spoke, she crossed her fingers behind her back.

Yui relaxed slightly.

"Come on, let's dress up a bit! You know, for fun! Please oh please!" Miaka whined.

Yui stared. "When you say 'dress up' you mean…?"

"Skirts! Make-up! Long dangly earrings! Well, you know…"

"Oh… No make-up and you're on," Yui bargained.

"Alrighty!" Miaka beamed. "Ok, I'll be going back to my room now. See you straight at the cinema, alright? I wanna go pick up something with Taka first."

"Well, ok then. See you there." After Miaka left, Yui began to get changed. She wore on a denim mini skirt, a sleeveless shirt and a denim jacket. She even wore her black high-heeled boots to match the outfit. This should do, Yui thought as adjusted her outfit for one last time before leaving her house to the venue to meet the others, or so she thought.

- - - - - ---- -

"Sorry I'm late… Tasuki?" Yui was surprised to see only Tasuki leaning against the pillar at the cinemas waiting. "Where are the others? Did we arrive early?" she asked, checking her watch to see the time and then checked the timing on her movie ticket. Nope, there was no mistake. The timing on the ticket was 7.30pm and it was already 7.23pm.

"Umm, did they buy the wrong tickets? What time did they say the movie was?" she asked worriedly as she started dialing Miaka's handphone number.

"Uh, no… Koji told me himself that the movie was 7.30pm and don't even wonder if they bought the wrong tickets because I double checked before I came over. It's 'Second Time Around'," Tasuki confirmed with her.

"Darn, Miaka's phone is turned off!" Yui groaned as she proceeded to try calling Taka, Nuriko and Chichiri but to receive the same result—an off phone. "No! This can't be happening! Wait! Maybe they have already entered before us! Come on, let's go in to meet them." she said as she dragged Tasuki into the already dark cinema theatre.

To their horror, none of the Suzaku members, including Miaka, was there. "Where could they be? Could it be that all of them had agreed to meet up before coming but were caught in a traffic jam?" Yui nudged Tasuki and asked worriedly, glancing at her watch every now and then.

"Naw… Can't be! If it's this way, how is it possible that ALL their mobile phones are turned off?"

Suddenly Yui frowned. "You know what? I smell a rat."

"What?" Tasuki asked.

"You know what? Let's ditch the movie." Yui suggested.

Tasuki gave her a puppy dog look. "Why? We paid for the movie! Ok. I've paid for my ticket!"

Yui smacked her head. "But don't you wanna find out what the others are up to?"

"Honestly? Not really!" Tasuki responded, turning his eyes towards the big screen. "Besides, I heard that this movie's real good!"

"Well…"Yui paused for a moment. Well, she hated to admit it but for once, Tasuki had a point. She too had paid for her own ticket and it would be a waste if she just left the cinema theatre like that. "You have a point." Yui sighed as she sank back into her seat to watch the movie.

Tasuki smirked. "Of course I'm right. I'm never wrong," Yui controlled the urge to wipe off his smug expression by straggling him. Anyway, the movie had just started and she did not want to miss out on the first part of the movie just to 'kill' him.

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author's note: yay another chpt up! So glad u guys like the story so far! Thnkx for the compliments! smiles  
and '**aderine no miko**', yupx I study in s'pore:)


	14. smilex

"Well, it was good enough a show for you not to leave the cinema halfway, wasn't it?" Tasuki asked as he and Yui walked out of the theatre.

"Yeah, in fact the movie was fabulous!" Yui exclaimed as she stretched full-length, trying to ease her muscles after sitting through the two-and-a-half hour long movie. Tasuki grinned in agreement as they walked on in the mall. "Hey, wanna grab a bite? I'm starving!" Yui suggested.

"Hmm, ok. Let's eat at the newly opened food court in this shopping mall! I heard that the food there was not bad," Tasuki suggested as Yui nodded her head in agreement and followed him to the newly opened food court.

However, as they reached the food court, to their disappointment, it was packed with many hungry people and not a single table was available.

"Oh well, next time then," Tasuki comforted the disappointed Yui. "I know, let eat at the sushi bar." With that, Yui and Tasuki made their way to the sushi bar only to find that it too was packed with many customers. The hungry duo stared at it longingly. All of a sudden, there was a growling noise coming from Tasuki's stomach.

"Oops!" Tasuki grinned sheepishly as Yui stared at him with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Oh well, looks like I'll have to cook our dinner," Yui sighed.

"You can cook?" Tasuki asked in amazement as he followed her out of the mall.

"Well, of course," Yui said. "But then again, I may need your help."

"Help? What help?" He asked hesitantly. Was she going to make him the tester of her food because she could not cook like Miaka? He wondered, a little afraid of being poisoned by her food.

"A ride," she replied his question.

"Oh, that," Tasuki heaved a sigh of relief. "Sure, here," he tossed to her an extra motorcycle helmet. "Hop on." Yui put the helmet on and hopped onto his motorbike as they sped off back to the hostel to her room.

- - - - - ----------- - - - - - -

"Mmmm… This is great," Tasuki commented, as he chomped down on another serving of her cooking.

Yui raised an eyebrow. "Were you just… Complimenting me?"

"Eh, don't think too much of it." Tasuki spoke defensively. "I said it was great because it has been practically 40 minutes and I still haven't passed out from food poisoning!"

Yui narrowed her eyes. "Yeh, I bet you've got such a strong stomach," she spoke sarcastically, "Either that or you have already had the misfortune of eating Miaka's cooking, then thought that since I was her friend, my cooking would just be as lousy."

Tasuki just shrugged.

Yui just shook her head and began pouring drinks for them. They finished their dinner in silence.

Tasuki smacked his lips together in satisfaction as he got up from the sofa. "Hmm… Well, for a snappish, prim-and-proper, and a high and mighty Seiryuu no Miko, your cooking is fab-"

But he did not get to finish his sentence. "Alright!" Yui exclaimed, glaring at him. "It's TIME for YOU to LEAVE!" She shoved him all the way to the door, opened it, and pushed him out. "Night!" she yelled, then slammed her door in his face. _Baka_, she thought, as she began to clear the table. She must have been so hungry that she was acting abnormally—being nice to that baka! He certainly didn't deserve it! Forever teasing and insulting her… Argh! Yet… She had to admit, the entire evening had been rather nice and fun. Wait. Stop. Did Hongo Yui just say that an evening with Kou Shun'u Tasuki was 'nice and fun'? Now, she knew for sure that she was definitely out of her mind.

- - - - - ----------- - - - - - -

Tasuki laughed quietly to himself as he walked back to his room. The evening spent was well… Kinda fun, he had to admit. He didn't think it would have been this fun, but it was. Yui was witty and had a great sense of humour. That was two things Tasuki did not expect to see in Yui. All of a sudden, he frowned. What was he talking about? Yui and he were enemies, and to even admit having fun with her was going against the rules of, well, enmity. Frankly, he didn't quite feel these feelings of enmity towards her anymore. In fact, he wasn't sure what replaced those feelings. It was getting all too confusing.

"Gah, I won't think about it. But the dinner was good." He muttered as he got changed.

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author's notes: hey guys! Thnkz so much 4 reviewing! Love love LOVEEE you guys loads and loads! Ahhaahz  
hey **FlonTed**, I graduated frm sec schl le.. yeh.. the load of common tests is enormous! Hahaz.. trust me, itz not any different now.. lolx

Cheerios ppl! Big hug! )


	15. yeh

The next day in school it was as if everything had gotten back to normal. For one, there was not a word that passed between Yui and Tasuki, not a word about yesterday. Yui was determined that she had been too hungry that she was hallucinating about Tasuki being kind and that she had a great time with him. Tasuki, on the other hand, was too occupied in trying to identify this feeling he was experiencing.

"So, Yui-chan! What happened ye-yesterday, huh?" Miaka asked suddenly, a slow grin emerging.

"Huh?" Yui blinked. Then, suddenly, it clicked. "WHAT are you suggesting, dear Miaka-chan?" she frowned. "Hmm, let's think. Could it be that it was YOU who set us up yesterday!"

In face of Yui's murderous glare, Miaka immediately went "Uh-oh!" and then, loudly exclaimed "YES, TAKA? You called me?" before scampering away to her dear Taka and she was safe from Yui's rage… for awhile.

Yui shook her head. "What the!"

"Nothing malicious, no worries!" Nuriko sang out breezily as he happily walked off to join Chichiri at the back of the class to sort out some assignments.

In the meantime, Kouji was trying to appease Tasuki. "Yo, hey buddy! Don't start boiling here! Ya know, that flame of yours can REALLY inflict injuries…"

Tasuki smirked, pulling out his trademark tessen, "Exactly my point, dear friend, exactly my point."

"Uh, but it's really not such a big deal, yah."

Tasuki shook his head. "Ah, nono nono! You're right; it's not really a big deal. It's not SUCH a big deal especially since my most trusted buddy tried to butt into matters and set me up with Ms Seiryuu."

"Ha!" Kouji pointed, trying whatever to save himself from getting fried, "BUT you did have a GREAT time with 'Ms Seiryuu', did you not? Huh, huh?"

"Well, uh… THAT'S really beside the point!"

"And, well, you can't fry me!"

Tasuki rolled his eyes. "Oh yeh? And why not?"

"Well, cos… Cos' we're in school! And… I'm your best buddy! Without me, there won't be a bandit dance! And… I'm gonna help Chichiri and Nuriko now!" With that, Kouji dashed off comically.

"Geex…" Tasuki muttered under his breath as he settled into his seat.

"Alright class, please turn to page 346 of your history textbook," The teacher started teaching. Tasuki lazily flipped open his textbook and tried to concentrate but to no avail. Whenever he tried to pay attention, his mind would then start thinking about the night he had spent with Yui. For once, they could get along and not tear each other apart and for once, he was actually enjoying her company. Now his mind was just filled with her, her, her and more her!

"Tasuki Kou Shun'u! Would you care to share with the class what are you thinking of?" the history teacher's voice boomed in his ear, causing him to jump up from his seat in surprise. "Well?" the teacher demanded as the whole class stared at him.

"Well… I was thinking about the fascinating facts Yui taught me yesterday during remedial," he blurted out as he tried desperately to remember of the facts Yui had taught him before. Yui raised an eyebrow at him as he continued. "You know, I never really thought much about Stalin's rule until now. I just realized that he had ruled Russia with an iron fist and many people had suffered terribly under him," he said as he punched his fist into the air and waited for the teacher's response on his well, much 'put-in' thought.

For a few seconds, the teacher was silent. The expression was one of pure shock. "Umm… Well, it has taken you QUITE some time to figure out that but, I'm **_IMPRESSED _**that you actually managed to make a link to the statement that I've just said! I see that the tutoring has been going on fairly well. Keep up the good job, Yui!"

Yui had a bewildered expression on her face. "Uh, well… Thanks, sensei?" she responded uncertainly.

With a satisfied look, the teacher returned back to the board and continued her ramblings.

Mimicking the teacher, Kouji whispered over, "I'm **_IMPRESSED_** that you actually managed to make a link to the statement!" Laughing, he continued, "I'm impressed that you actually LISTENED in class!"

"Oh, geex! I am **_IMPRESSED_** that I actually managed to hit her question!" Tasuki remarked.

Just then, Yui who had obviously overheard their conversation, turned around. "That was sheer dumb luck!" she exclaimed softly, her tone carrying disapproval yet slight awe. "And since when do you actually listen and remember what I teach you?"

"Aww, shucks, Yui-sensei, you know I ALWAYS listen to your teachings!" Tasuki smirked.

Adopting his mocking tone, she responded, "Why, of course I know that, Tasuki darling! Like that time you didn't bring your book? I just KNEW that you were so brilliant that you actually memorized the ENTIRE book before coming to class! Good job!"

Tasuki, being Tasuki, responded enthusiastically towards Yui's sarcasm. "Yes, dear Yui, I really do enjoy the tutoring sessions. The hours of torture skim by almost too fast! Really, your screaming and yelling and slamming of tables almost seemed… endearing…"

Yui smiled. "Oh, really? Perhaps we should lengthen the tutoring time! What say you?"

Tasuki blinked. _Longer hours? No way!_ His mind protested. But then he noticed the challenging, look on her face… Did he really want to give in and let her win? No way! "Lengthen? Why not! One hour? Two hours? Why not three!"

Yui's smile faltered slightly. "Uh…" Just as she was about to make a comeback to that, Koji coughed quite suddenly, causing both Yui and Tasuki to turn and look at him.

"Huh? Oh, don't mind me! I've been having a bad cough lately. Just, you know, continue your… Erm… Exchanges! Yes, exchanges." Kouji remarked, with a knowing look on his face.

"Hey! I resent that!" Yui exclaimed, her cheeks flushing.

"Yeh! We're not FLIRTING, alright!" Tasuki spoke defensively.

Koji raised an eyebrow, chuckling a little. "Well, I didn't say that you and Yui were FLIRTING, now, did I? I just merely said _exchange_, that's all. But since you say that…"

"NO!" Both Yui and Tasuki practically yelled.

"No?" A new voice entered the conversation. An ominous feeling fell over the trio as they gingerly looked up.

"Sensei…"

The teacher stared at them. "Talking in my class! And Yui even! My prize student and the school's model student at that! Talking! Clearly it's the doings of the two of you! Yet I have to be impartial. You three, out!"

Sighing, the three grabbed their books and stood outside the classroom. The class was visibly horrified. Did the teacher just send Yui out? Yui, the one who was clearly the teacher's favourite, and the one who normally answered all the teacher's questions in class? Everyone immediately launched into 'alert mode', frantically flipping the pages. With Yui gone… The sensei will surely call them! This was a catastrophe!

-----------------------  
author's note: HAAHAHAH! Exams r finally over! Thus the longer chappie, in celebration! Ahhahaz yosh! .  
thnk u reviewers 4 once again reviewin, and other ppl hu r reading this.. enjoy n review! thnkz!


	16. icecream

Outsidein the corridors…

"Great, I can't even hear what the teacher is teaching," Yui grumbled, clearly irritated. "And I wonder whose fault it is."

"Yeh, whose fault…" Tasuki echoed, frowning.

"Not mine!" Kouji automatically responded in his defense.

That remark caused the other two to turn and glare at him. "Like hell, it's not your fault!" they growled in unison.

Kouji shrugged his shoulder. "Like, I mean, if you two weren't flirting, then Sensei wouldn't have sent out three out."

"We were NOT flirting!"

"Aww, how rare this is! You two actually agree on something!" Kouji noted, grinning broadly.

"Cheh!" Tasuki remarked huffily, as he dumped the heavy textbook on the ground beside him and leaned back casually against the wall.

For awhile, they all busied themselves in one way or another. Yui was flipping through the history textbook; Tasuki was playing with his mobile phone, while Kouji was drawing random stuffs on his textbook. Then suddenly, Kouji broke the silence. "Man, we still have practically half-an-hour more till the lesson ends. Don't think I'll hang around here till then doing nothing. I'm heading to the library to complete my overdue essay and pass it up before Ms Hanako (their economics teacher) starts yelling at me again. Ciao." And with that, he just left.

Yui gaped. "Can he do that?"

Tasuki laughed at Yui's shocked expression. "Let's go! Now that even Kouji has bolted, I don't see why we have to stand here like a bunch of idiots."

"Wha…? But, but, we're still on punishment!" Yui protested, absolutely flabbergasted.

A mischievous grin lit Tasuki's face. "Not anymore!" And then, he grabbed her hand and dashed past their class, down the stairs.

"Are you nuts?" Yui exclaimed breathlessly once they had stopped. "We're going to get into serious trouble when Sensei finds out!" There was the tiniest hint of a smile on her face as she crossed her arms.

"She? Nah, she won't even notice. Trust me, afterall me and Kouji get sent out all the time."

She laughed. "Ok, but this is still illegal anyway…" then, her voice lowered a notch, almost as if she were speaking to herself, "Though, it feels kinda fun…"

Despite that, Tasuki still caught her words anyway. "You should really lighten a bit sometimes, ya know? A bit of recklessness won't do ya any harm."

"Recklessness, huh?" Yui fell silent for a moment, thoughts flooding her mind. Reckless. She was never one to be reckless. There wasn't a need for one more reckless person in the world. Besides, there was just simply no room for her to be reckless. Being alone for almost all her life had taught her that she had to always be in control of her life. Recklessness was simply not an option. Like that simple instance so long ago when she was barely in her teens…

She returned from school back to the ever-empty house and had cooked some congee for dinner. However, due to her exhaustion, she fell asleep and forgot to turn off the stove. Somehow the tablecloth caught fire and it caused a chain reaction, and soon she woke up to smoke-filled apartment. For the first time in her life, she was petrified and helpless. She barely remembered how but seconds later, the siren of the fire-engines was heard and soon the flames were put out. The most painful part of it all was when she called to America, where her parents were currently at on a business trip, and tried to tell them what happened, the only response she got was the beeping of the answering machine. Even when they came back briefly a month later, they didn't even ask about the incident. It hurt that at the very instant when she needed some kind of comfort, there was no one. Hongo Yui was alone.

So, she couldn't afford to be reckless. Not once, not ever. Cos' there may just be nobody to be there. She could only depend on herself. But of course, then there was Miaka. She could always depend on Miaka. But at the same time, she couldn't really. It was a hard feeling to describe. Somehow she just had to be the strong one.

"Ooi!" Tasuki waved a hand in front of her face, jolting her from her thoughts.

"Uh, what?"

"I was asking if that piece of paper was yours." Tasuki pointed to a piece of neatly folded crisp, white paper just beside her foot. "It slipped out of your book."

Blinking, Yui bent down and picked up the slip of paper. On it, her name was in neat prints. "Erm, it appears to be…" Unfolding the paper, the first two words that caught her eyes were "Would you". Suddenly, she had a bad feeling. Gulping, she proceeded to read the rest of the content.

_'I had a great time on our first date. Would you go out with me this Thursday? _

Thinking of you,  
Kazuhiko'

Letting out a huge sigh, she folded the paper back again and chucked it into her pocket. She wasn't so surprised that he had asked her for a second date since he had made it clear that he would, but the bewildering thing was how he had slipped her the note without her knowing, especially since the book was with her the entire time. It felt almost… freakish.

"Yui? Are you alright?" Tasuki asked in concern as he noticed Yui's paling face.

"Huh?" Yui blinked again and stared at him blankly.

"God, you sure don't look alright to me." Tasuki remarked. Then grabbing her hand, he dragged her towards the cafeteria. Yui looked at him questioningly as she followed him. "We're going to have some ice cream to make you feel better." He answered her questioning look and gave her his famous fang grin in assurance.

She pouted at him. "I DON'T WANT ICE-CREAM! Do you honestly think that you're humouring some little kid?"

Tasuki had this disbelieved, yet somewhat amused smile on his face. "Small kid?" Just then, he swiped out his mobile phone and… SNAP! Grinning in satisfaction, he shoved the phone in front of her for her to see. "Neh! Isn't this a small kid?"

Yui stared. For a moment, she just stared. Then… "SMALL KID! I ain't no small kid! Baka! I demand you delete this picture at once!"

He just chuckled as he held the phone high, out of her reach, to which she exclaimed a loud protest, "HEY!"

"Know what, this shall be my wallpaper! Muahahaha! SHORTY!" he mocked her, holding the phone as high as possible (which means that he tip-toed when necessary) as she desperately jumped and smacked around, trying to get that phone.

"I… huff am… huff NOT A SHORTY!"

But alas, Yui was only a 162cm while Tasuki the 'giant' stood at 178cm. Did you really think that she was gonna win in this? Of course not! (Not discriminating against short people here, ok!) So after awhile, she just gave up, making a mental reminder to SOMEHOW get him to erase that unauthorised picture of her.

"Quick, let's just get the ice-cream!"

"Only if you pay for mine!" Yui insisted.

Tasuki laughed. "Ok, I will… Small kid!"

"HEY!"

Tasuki continued to tease her and she continued to protest. The duo walked off towards the cafeteria, the punishment forgotten, past rivalries forgotten, just relishing in each other's company.

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author's note: OMG I'm so sorry I took such a long time to do an update esp since my exams are already over! Okok, I admit, I was being lazy.. X  
anyways… thnkx guys 4 all ya support! I promise promise that I'll be more hardworking on this story! Cheers! (:


	17. hello?

RING! RING!

"Oh!" Yui pulled out her classy-looking NOKIA phone and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"HONGO YUI!" a voice screamed at her. Obviously, it was Miaka, sounding extremely horrified. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! DON'T TELL ME THAT YOU SKIPPED PUNISHMENT!"

"Uh… Heh heh… Does sensei know?" Yui asked sheepishly.

"Of course not; sensei forgets about this kind of things easily. But THAT'S not the point! The point is that you skipped punishment! Can you imagine how shocked I was when I stepped out of class to find you and you weren't there! I thought you were kidnapped or something! But NOOO! Here you are, happily eating ice-cream with Tasuki!"

Yui was stunned. "Uh… Eating with ice-cream with Tasuki? How…?"

"How do I know? Cos' I'm standing at the entrance of the cafeteria now!" Miaka remarked smugly.

"WHAT?" Yui exclaimed, hurriedly pretended to look in another direction. "OH! I see Tasuki! What a coincidence! Eating with him? No, I just SAW him!" Yui feigned a laugh, a very fake one, I might add. She wasn't about to give Miaka something else to tease her about.

Tasuki stared at her and rolled his eyes while on the other side of the line, Miaka sweatdropped.

"ERM…… Ok, whatever you say…" Miaka responded, then continued, "Ok, I'll hang up here!" After that, she walked towards Yui and Tasuki.

"So… HI!" Yui said brightly.

"You didn't answer my question," Miaka stated calmly, "You know, the one about why you skipped punishment…"

Yui laughed nervously. "Uh, cos' I just…" Suddenly, her tone changed. "TASUKI! Yeh, it was Tasuki! HE dragged me off! His fault!"

Tasuki crossed his arms and smirked his usual charming smirk. "Hey, so it's my fault? Well, no one stopped you from going back to punishment… Small kid."

That re-started the entire argument. "I'm no small kid, you… you… You Big Carrot!"

He stared at her. "Big Carrot! Hey, don't mess with the hair, small kid!"

"Pumpkin-head! Carrot-head! Tomato-head!" Yui rattled on happily.

"Hey!" Tasuki protested, glaring at her, trying to think of a comeback. He had always been very touchy about his hair. To him, his hair was gold. No one was even allowed to touch it; which was exactly why he was always very grouchy after escaping his FAN CLUB—they NEVER FAILED to mess up his hair.

Miaka stood there, staring at both of them. Then, if one looked carefully, one would have seen that SLIGHTEST glint of mischief in her eyes. "Yui! Tasuki! I'M SO SORRY! I didn't mean to barge in on your _SECRET_ AFFAIR! Please don't be mad at me, I promise I'll never TELL anyone about your _SECRET_ AFFAIR again!" Practically half of the cafeteria turned and stared.

Both Yui and Tasuki started gagging. "SECRET AFFAIR? With HIM/HER! NEVER!"

"Sorry!" Miaka smiled, as she left the scene.

"We're not… Oh forget it! I'm going to the library," Yui gave up explaining to the curious onlookers and too, left the cafeteria.

Tasuki shook his head at the commotion the "_news_" was getting. He was definitely not gonna deal with this now. He had better things to do at hand.

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author's note: yikes.. I've been really busy lately.. still far from finishing my hols hw.. sigh.. oh yeh.. as a reply.. the seishis r not reincarnated.. they just sort of popped into Miaka n Yui's world cos they've somehow managed to convince Suzaku to transport them. so sorry 4 not clarifying it.. just sorta had the idea in my mind n din write it out! Yikes! 


	18. break

By the end of break, it seemed that the non-existent _SECRET_ AFFAIR had been spread all over the school, and worst yet, even the TEACHERS heard about it. So basically everyone around the school was fairly upset. The TFC (the Tasuki Fan Club) was horrified; the teachers were concerned; the YSC (the Yui Suitors Club) was outraged, while the rest of the school was somewhat amused.

And when the bell signalling the end of the school day, both Yui and Tasuki were instantly bombarded by people they knew, people they barely knew, and even people they had never been acquainted with before.

"Tasuki-samaaaaa! Is it true!"

"Why, the very devil! He wrecked our chances with Yui!"

"Is it true what we've heard? But it's impossible! Weren't you two at loggerheads? Very curious indeed!"

"The sky is falling! If this could happen, then anything is possible!"

"What's going on? Can you two please clarify? When did this happen?"

The chatter and noise of everyone talking at the same time was more than the duo could bear as they escaped at the slightest opportunity. Yui got rescued by Miaka and Tamahome, while Tasuki used his seishi gift of speed and dashed out of the crowd.

Satisfied that he had escaped the horde, Tasuki began to walk towards the hostel block. Just as he was climbing up the stairs, Kouji appeared.

"Genrou! So what's going on? I know I did suspect that you had a THING for Yui, and suddenly this secret affair? Dude, I'm like so psychic!" Kouji remarked, "So when were you actually gonna tell me about it, huh?"

Tasuki sighed. "There is NO…"

"Tasuki!" a new voice cut in, sounding particularly disturbed.

Whirling around, they realised that it was Kazuhiko. "Ok, now what?" Tasuki growled in frustration.

"I thought we were friends! How could you steal MY girl from me, having a SECRET AFFAIR!" Kazuhiko demanded, steam practically visible above his head.

"Look, let's get the facts straight. One, she's not YOUR girl; she's Yui. Two, I did not STEAL her from you. Three, there was **never, ever, ever** a SECRET AFFAIR."

Upon hearing that, all the anger disappeared from his face. "So… You what you're saying is that you're not remotely interested or after her in any way?"

"…erh… yeh…" Tasuki replied after a split second.

Kazuhiko broke into a huge smile. "So since you're NOT remotely interested or after her in any way… Then do you think that you could fix me up on a date with her? I mean, you do see her quite often, being in the same clique, tuition and all… And besides, this would definitely prove that you're not interested in her… "

Tasuki frowned. "Uhh… Yeh, right... Sure. Just to prove it. But I'll do it just this once, get it?"

"Grand! Arrange it to be this Thursday. We'll be in touch." Pleased, Kazuhiko whistled a merry tune and left.

"Huh? You're gonna help him?" Kouji asked blankly. "But aren't you interested in Yui?"

"Well… ye—**NO**, which is exactly why I'm going to help him. By helping him, I can prove it. But of course, I don't like to interfere in other people's businesses, so I only agreed to help this once. If it fails, it fails."

"Right…" Now it was Kouji's turn to frown. "But how are you gonna help him? You know as well as we all do that Yui is not even one bit interested in him so she'll never agree to a date."

"Well, I've got a plan. You'll see."

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a/n: omg.. I'm sooooo sorry 4 the super duper late update! Dont kill me! -runs and hide- mi com has been down for a very long long time.. but.. it's ok now! )  
glad u guys r still reviewing.. hugs!


	19. food!

"Alright, regarding tuition… I have one small request?"

"What?" Yui asked impatiently, frowning slightly. She was getting kind of suspicious. Afterall, Tasuki was never the one to automatically ask or talk about tuition. Something was definitely up his sleeves.

"Can we change the tuition to tomorrow, that is, Thursday instead? Cos' I've gotta meet someone later. We can tuition over lunch then, okay? Then I'll scoot off for basketball practice…" Tasuki asked, trying to sound normal.

Yui raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "Meet who later exactly?"

"Meet… Oh, bother! Why do I have to tell you? Why? Are you SUDDENLY interested in me, huh?" Tasuki smirked, moving slightly closer to her.

Yui immediately turned red. "NO! Why would you think that? That's like the most disgusting thing I've ever heard! Fine! Shoo, go meet that someone! I'll see you tomorrow for tuition!" With that, she turned heels and left. _Oh, the nerve of Tasuki_, she thought hotly. To _suggest such a repulsive thing like that! As if she would ever be interested in him! AS IF! But just between her and well, herself, she didn't really mean it… He's really not all that bad…_

Watching Yui leave, Tasuki shook his head, still smiling at her reaction. It was kinda… Cute. Then suddenly, another thought entered his mind, and he frowned. Tomorrow. Yui would definitely not be happy when she finds out that he lied to her. And he was definitely not looking forward to then. Her reaction by then would be anything but cute. But he would worry about one thing at a time. Right now he had to escape to somewhere before Yui found out the truth. Swiftly, he made his way through the hallways, back to his hostel room, trying hard not to get spotted by anyone. Closing the doors behind him, he stepped out into the tiny balcony to take in the clothes. Then, at that moment, he heard strangely familiar voices.

"Unhand that salmon bread!"

"NEVER!"

"Oh, leave my share of fries alone!"

"Well, try and make me!"

"ATTACK!"

It was only till the screech "SUZAKU SAVE MEEEE!" that it finally clicked. Kouji, Miaka, Chichiri and Tamahome. And by the sounds of it, they were having a feast. But there was something wrong with the picture. Why wasn't he invited? HOW COULD THEY FORGET ABOUT HIM! With that, Tasuki began his super-speed lightning jumping through balconies, till he reached Miaka's room which was actually quite close, just the second room away from his.

"ALRIGHT. OWN UP. Who forgot to invite me to this little pinic?" Tasuki growled, in mock annoyance.

Everyone stared at him for a second before Miaka threw a clean cloth that appeared out of nowhere and covered all the food.

"InWrite whARrt?" Kouji gave an innocent look, as he tried to swallow his chicken.

"We were just chatting, no da!" Chichiri said, plastering on his smiley face mask. "What picnic?"

Tasuki rolled his eyes. "I'm hungry. I haven't eaten my lunch. So take out the food now and let's eat!"

"What food?" Tamahome looked around the room in an exaggerated fashion. "OMG! Tasuki, are you feeling alright?"

The game was given away when Miaka yelled, "IT'S ME! I'M SORRY! I forgot to invite you! Can we eat now?"

Everyone groaned at Miaka as they scooted over to make space for Tasuki on the carpeted floor, while Tasuki rolled his eyes and sat down at the space provided. "Food…" they all remarked sarcastically, exchanging knowing looks.

"Hey Tasuki," Koji munched on his remaining chicken which he had hidden behind his back. "Weren't you supposed to be having tuition with Yui?" Almost immediately, everyone stopped munching their food and stared at Tasuki.

"Yea! And so why are you here?" Miaka demanded and snatched back the salmon sandwich Tasuki was about to eat. "You skipped tuition so that you could steal all of my food right! Well, NO! You can't!" she growled as she shielded the rest of the food in the picnic basket protectively. "NO! NEVER EVER and EVER!"

Tasuki had THAT look on his face. You know the kind you give when someone says something very lame that makes you go… "Childish! I didn't come to steal your food!"

"THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE?" she demanded back.

"Uhh… Cos… Tuition was cancelled!" he responded brightly, as he snatched back the salmon bread from Miaka's hands.

"And why would Yui cancel tuition just like that? Huh? Huh?" Kouji nudged him. "So what charms did you unleash on that girl?"

"What, WHAT charms?" Tasuki asked back calmly, while he gave Kouji the venom-est glare ever, the kind that plainly read, 'stop your nonsense or else!'

"Oh, eat, eat!" Kouji immediately received the message, and being a smart boy he was, quickly looked back down at his food and chomped frantically into it.

But the rest stared back at him. "So what's the story?"

"Uh…" And he had to tell them the thoroughly edited version of him having other things to do, one of which was to crash their lil' picnic.

"HA! So you had EVERY intention of STEALING MY food!" Miaka spoke dangerously as she slowly got up to her feet.

"Uh…Well… Take it easy!" Tasuki gave a cautious and nervous smile as he too rose to his feet, but for an entirely different reason—Run away from the murderous Miaka!

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**a/n:** YEY! I actually managed to get the nxt chpt out within a week! I bet you guys are proud of me, huh huh? Lolx ok. Glad you guys loved it!  :huge grin:


	20. guilt

Yui sat on the bench just beside the field and chomped on her butter sticks. Great. Now with the rest of the afternoon free, what was she to do? Well, she could always head to the library (whee.) but she felt sluggish today, after such a long day. So in a way, she was really grateful that Tasuki had decided to cancel tuition. Speaking of which, who did he have to meet such that he had to cancel tuition? Hmm…

_Oh well_, Yui thought as she finished off the last of her butter sticks and got up from her seat. _At least I now have the time to get home asap to complete my latest novel. _With that, she picked up her bag and headed for home. However, it still seemed funny to her as she had never left for home earlier than 2pm. She would be occupied with tuitions for other students who were in need of them and homework.

As she trudged on out of the school gates, she heard someone call her name.

"Yui-chan!"

Turning around, Yui smiled, "Hey, Yuki-chan! What's up?"

"Hey, Kazuhiko-san asked me to pass this to you. I'm not sure it's from whom though, cos he was mumbling and seemed in a hurry." Yuki handed Yui a slightly creased blue envelope, and at touch it was easily recognisable that there not only was a note inside, there was something else too.

"Thanks, see you in school tomorrow!" Bidding farewell, Yui walked back to her room, fingering the envelope. Unable to hold the suspense further, she opened it and the most exquisite-looking necklace with a white rose pendant tumbled out. With her other free hand, she pulled out a short note. It read,

'_Dear Yui,  
Sorry I had to leave early so I didn't manage to pass to you this. Anyway, I got you this little present to show how much I appreciate you. Hope you will wear it.  
Love, Me.'_

Blinking in surprise, one person flashed across her mind and immediate redness tainted her cheeks. No… How was it possible? But there were several obvious signs, wasn't there? HE left early for personal reasons and it was only HE that would sign off as 'Me', egoistically assuming that she knew who 'Me' was. But then again, there were other plainly obvious things that clearly stated that it wasn't him. For one, since when did he behave so civilly towards her, much less send a present to "show how much HE appreciated" her? And the last part troubled her—"Love, Me." Surely Tasuki would never ever say or even write something like that to her, right? Especially since he so passionately declared his dislike for her before… And yet, wasn't it true that they had been getting along much better recently?

She shook her head. She was thinking too much. Did it really matter who it came from… or not? Would it even change anything?

- ------8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8--------- -

Thursday. It was the day. Now, Tasuki was not milk-livered; he was anything but that, and heck, countless battles and even Suzaku could testify to that! But still, he was a tad-bit afraid of her reaction. He would have a lot to deal with if everything fails- her anger, Miaka's wrath for 'bullying' her best friend, Tamahome's disapproval of him indirectly causing Miaka emotional distress… And no doubt Nuriko and Kouji would want a say in the matter as well. Well, it was a lot of consequences, now coming to think of it, but he had struck a deal with Kazuhiko, and he was not one to eat his own words.

"I just hope Yui enjoys her time with Kazuhiko," Tasuki muttered to himself as he stepped out the showers and ruffled dry his wet hair. Yet again, despite saying so, his statement still sounded strangely wrong to him. Almost with certainty, he knew she wouldn't. Why else would she have gone through so much trouble to avoid Kazuhiko for so long if she even liked him? If she liked him, with that dude's enthusiasm, they would already have been together a long time ago! But at this moment, there was no backing out. Picking up the phone, he dialled Yui's number. After a few dial tones, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Listen, regarding tuition… Since classes end around 4, why not we meet in the canteen later around 7pm?" Tasuki asked, staring at the piece of paper where he had written down all the details Kazuhiko had told him.

"Yeh, sure… Don't forget your textbook and bring some paper." There was momentary pause before she continued, "And, erm… Tasuki? Did you send me a…? Oh, never mind. I'll see you at 7pm."

Tasuki frowned a little, feeling the tiniest twinge of guilt since he wasn't going to show up anyway. "Yeh, see you," he echoed as he placed the phone back on the receiver. Turning around he picked up his mobile phone and messaged Kazuhiko, '5pm in the canteen. Settled.'

-------------------  
author's note: oh yikes... like how long have I been gone! Actually I've been suffering from writer's block..(isn't it obvious) :X  
to obsessed dreamer, I tink you might wanna re-read chpt 8.. yepx.. :)  
to Darka-Chan, thnks! Yeh, I love this pairing too! Lolx.. like fire and ice.. :) actually there's this other fic I wrote starring these two as well but I guess I wont b releasing it so soon.. haha


	21. disaster

Yui exhaled noisily as she pushed the messy strands of hair out of her face. She had just run 10 rounds round the track, and felt immensely refreshed. She was feeling a little stressed out by the mere fact that the exams were just around the corner. Never mind the fact that people said she worried too much or that she would score anyway even without studying, she still had to push hard. She would not allow herself any room for slack which might jeopardise her academics.

She grabbed her dark-blue duffel bag and headed off to the showers to get cleaned up. Half-an-hour later she was slowly making her way to the school cafeteria. Glancing at her watch, it read 5.57pm… Just nice. She settled down at a table near her. The cafeteria was almost empty by now, except a few students studying or chatting over drinks.

6.30pm, and still no sign of the 'Carrot-head'. He was LATE. _Great, when he comes, I'm gonna give him extra homework!_ Yui gritted her teeth as she constantly glanced at her watch and looked around the canteen for a certain carrot-top.

"Looking for me?" A deep voice boomed behind her as she jumped in surprise and turned around only to face…

"Oh hi, Kazuhiko, what are you doing here?" Yui asked pleasantly, masking the deep feeling of dread very well.

He smiled, which only made Yui more worried. "Why, I'm here to take you out for dinner!"

"Erh, that's very nice of you, but… I'm actually meeting Tasuki! For tuition, you know… Heh, sorry."

What shocked her was the wider smile on Kazuhiko's face in response to her rejection. "Then, there's no problem I guess, I can bring you out after all. Tasuki's not gonna show up, you know," he grinned as he grabbed her bag and her arm, and began to steer her towards the school's exit.

"Uh… I think I'd better call him!" Yui smiled nervously back as she fumbled with her bag to retrieve her mobile phone.

"Well, Tasuki's tired. So he asked me to come meet you… which is not a bad arrangement at all… I've been trying to spend some time with you all week but you were just too busy. So now, great! We can have some _quality time_ together." Kazuhiko pulled her hand away from her bag. "So let's go, ok?"

Yui blinked, panicking for the slightest moment. "Uh… _Quality time_? ERM… Since he's not turning up, then GREAT! I get to rest! So I'll go back to my room and have an early night's sleep then! Goodbye!"

"Aww, c'mon! Dinner?"

"I've eaten."

"A movie?"

"Nothing interesting."

Frowning slightly, Kazuhiko persisted. "Then, since you were going to tutor Tasuki anyway today, so why not you tutor ME instead?"

"Uh… But you don't have a problem with your studies!" Yui protested weakly.

"Well, I just don't get this chapter… I really don't. So can you coach me on this chapter?" Kazuhiko smiled smugly, knowing jolly-well that she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of this one. "If you don't want to leave school, then fine. We can always just go to the school's library."

"But… Uh…" Yui muttered helplessly, seeing no way out without hurting his feelings. Finally, she let out a loud sigh and shrugged her shoulders as she walked off with him towards the library. _What was Tasuki thinking?_ She wondered, frustrated.

(In the library which is by the way, close to empty due to the late hours…)

Yui couldn't shake off the feeling that she had just walked into the lion's den. She knew he hadn't really wanted her to tutor him—he didn't even bring a textbook! And at the rate they were going, only half-a-page in 30 minutes, it was going to be one long night. Suddenly a wicked thought came to mind. If he wouldn't let her leave, then she would just have to make him leave on his own!

"Ok… so you understand this page?" Yui asked.

"Not exactly," Kazuhiko responded carelessly, leaning closer towards her.

"Oh dear! Then I guess I'll have to refer you to our history teacher for extra lesson! I'm sure she wouldn't mind!"

Kazuhiko gulped. Sure, their history teacher was good; she knew her stuff from front-to-back, but that was if you could stand her yelling the entire time. "Uh, actually, I sort of starting to get it!" he said brightly.

Yui smiled evilly, covering the notes. "Ok, name me the major events that occurred during the Cold War."

"Uh… The events include the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the formation of NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the division of Germany, the Arm Race… And there's the Korean War and the Cuban Crisis as well..." Kazuhiko recited, almost effortlessly.

_Bingo_, Yui thought, grinning even broader now. He had fallen into her trap. "Well! That's excellent! You've got almost all of them down, and even in order! Seems like you don't have much problem in this topic afterall! So I guess we can both have an early night retirement!" She simpered, gathering her stuffs quickly, eager to make an escape. "Adieux!"

Kazuhiko's face visibly darkened. "Look, I didn't wait all week just to see you for like what, half-an-hour? And what about the present I gave you?"

"What pres-" Then it sank in. "Oh, the necklace. So it was you." She pulled out the envelope containing it from her side pouch, handed back to him and continued, "I'm sorry it's very pretty and all, but I can't accept it."

He narrowed his eyes. "Oh and why not? You can't accept the present or you can't accept… "

"Both. So erm, I've really gotta go!" Yui responded quickly, feeling rather frustrated but at the same time a little scared, as she dashed out of the library. She had never seen Kazuhiko acting this way before. Even though the thought of going out with him never crossed her mind, she had always thought him to be 'rather nice and decent'. Now, his angry stare and tightened jaw sounded an alarm in her mind, debunking whatever good impression she had had of him before.

"Don't walk away from me like that," he growled, pushing the door angrily, fast on her heels. He spun her around to face him, pushing her against the railing, the angry glint in his eyes never fading.

She raised her hands in self-defence as she let out a low cry. This was it, he was gonna hit her. Or so she thought. It all happened so quickly—He pushed her hands away and pressed his lips down on her hers roughly. Horrified, Yui shoved him away as hard as she could and gave him a hard slap. "How DARE you!" she yelled at him and turned and ran away.

"Wait!" he shouted. But Yui did not stop and continued running towards the hostel block, and judging by the loud thumping behind her, he was chasing her still. Faster, faster, she pushed herself, and it was lucky that she was in Athletics. Though so, it didn't really give her an edge since Kazuhiko was also from sports, namely, soccer. Finally, she reached her corridor. Her key! _Where **WAS **the freaking key?_ Yui thought desperately, searching her compartments.

"Looking for this?" Kazuhiko smirked, dangling the key in question right in front of her.

Yui stared disbelievingly.

"You dropped it while running." He explained lazily.

"Ok, then thank you very much!" She lunged for the keys but he easily switched hands.

Shaking his head he stared down at her, "You look really cute being so discomposed and flustered. I'll give you your keys back so don't be so impatient, Yui. Oh, shall we go for dinner first?" He reached his hand to touch her cheek, but she slapped it away.

"Look," Yui spoke furiously, "I don't appreciate what you did back there. And I'm not interested in dinner. Can you just give me back the keys?"

He narrowed his eyes. "It's just dinner… Is it so hard to comply? Or are you just playing hard-to-get? Well then, I know the game, now let's go." With that he pulled her towards the staircase, gripping her hand firmly.

"LET ME GO!" Yui yelled hysterically as she struggled against him, though not really succeeding.

Now, the racket they were causing was penetrating the rosewood doors, dragging irritated roomers out on their feet. Irritated roomers like Tasuki.

----------------------  
author's note:  
okies, a longer chpt to make up for my long absence.. how's that? )


	22. friends

Tossing around, he frowned. There was shouting outside. Great, he thought, as if he didn't already have enough trouble getting some sleep. That person was **seriously** gonna to get it!

"What the hell is all this commotion about?" growled the sleepy-looking, messy-haired, thoroughly annoyed Tasuki as he flung his room door open, only to face an irritated-looking Kazuhiko and a trembling Yui, who was twisting her arm this way and that to get her hand out of his grasp.

"Nothing!" Kazuhiko snapped back, "We were just leaving. Go mind your own business!"

"Hey, wait a second! She doesn't want to go nowhere with you!" Tasuki frowned, stepping forward.

Kazuhiko ignored him as he continued trying to persuade Yui to leave with him.

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" Tasuki intervened, shoving Kazuhiko aside, as he stood between Kazuhiko and Yui. "Look, it's late and we have school tomorrow. If you don't leave now then…"

"Get. Lost." Kazuhiko stressed the words as he punched Tasuki hard, and then made an attempt to claim Yui.

"I WARNED you, didn't I?" Tasuki muttered angrily as he packed a punch back, hitting Kazuhiko squarely on the cheek.

_Tasuki,_ Yui thought hazily._ He was defending her?_

Just then, a loud 'Eep!' sounded behind the trio. Startled, they turned around, only to see a scared schoolmate hurrying back into her room. Shit. If this girl were to report, they would all get it from the school.

Rubbing his sore cheek, he said threateningly to the both of them, "Just watch out." Then, as he tossed back Yui's keys, he mouthed menacingly the words "This is not over." Not wanting to linger on any longer lest they attracted more attention, Kazuhiko left speedily.

"Are you alright?" Tasuki demanded.

Yui stared at him as if he had just revealed that he was Superman. "Am I alright? Shouldn't the question be are YOU alright? I mean you got punched!"

Tasuki waved his hand carelessly. "Yeh well, so? Back in my kick-ass seishi-cum-bandit days, we got into fights a lot… Such a loser punch is well, nothing!"

Yui then calmly proceeded to poke his bruised (but it's not THAT obvious cos he's tan) cheek. Hard.

"Ouch!"

Yui smirked. "Macho, huh? C'mon Mr. Show-Off! Let's treat that before everyone questions about it tomorrow!" With that, she opened her door and dragged the protesting Tasuki in.

"It's just a bruise! It'll heal up by itself!" Tasuki grumbled like a little kid.

Yui laughed. "Just sit down! It maybe normal in your world to get cuts and bruises, but this is school. People will start speculating about how you got it and the teachers, well, you would want to avoid them." With that, she heated up some uncooked rice, then tied it up in a hankie. When it was skin-manageable warm, she began rubbing it in gentle circular motion on his cheek, with the other hand holding his face in place.

Tasuki went red slightly, at the sudden contact. "Eh… Does it actually work?"

"Sure!"

"Cheh, I've never heard of such a method. You're weird, you know?" he remarked.

"I prefer the word 'unique'. Now shush." Yui continued rubbing until the hankie/rice cooled off. "There, all better now!"

He touched his cheek. It was still warm. "Orh, domo arigato…" he said, turning to look at the mirror. And, quite remarkably, the bruise had lightened up. It was almost non-existent now.

"No problem… Thank you for defending me just now…" Yui replied. Then, she frowned. "Speaking of it… Tuition. Kazuhiko. Explain."

"Erh, about that…" Tasuki scratched his head sheepishly, "He wanted me to help, and I did… Sorry. If I had known it would have turned out this way… It was a bad idea."

Yui nodded. "You bet it was! Why did you help him anyway? I thought I already made it clear that I wasn't interested in him. Besides, what gave you the right to interfere? You know, I would totally mash you up right now for this evening of disaster, but you're already injured so… I'll let it pass."

"Gomen," Tasuki repeated sincerely, then cheekily added, "I guess you can't really harm your saviour, can you?"

Yui rolled her eyes in mock-irritation. "Riiiight… _Saviour_. For all you know, I might be seeing you in detention tomorrow if someone reports about the fight. Even _saviours_ won't be spared the punishment."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Looking confused, Yui peered through the peephole. "Miaka?" _What was she doing here? _Then, just as she was about to open the door, she stopped. Tasuki. Miaka couldn't find him here! If she did… Yui shuddered. There would be no end to teasings and such. Whirling around, she uttered one word, "Hide!"

"Wha-?" But it was track-record for this usually clueless seishi that he understood. Hurriedly, he scrambled for the open balcony.

Pressing the 'release' button, the door was unlocked as Yui opened it slowly. "Miaka? What are you doing here?"

"Yui-chan! You're the ONLY person that can save me now!" wailed Miaka, bear-hugging her best friend.

"Uh, what? Homework again?" Yui asked in a bored tone.

"YES! How did you know! You're TRULY my best friend!" Miaka exclaimed dramatically, latching herself onto Yui once more.

Yui chuckled. Well, just as Miaka said it, they've been best friends for so long, so it wasn't surprising that she could read Miaka's mind. Whenever Miaka gave such a reaction, it was totally obvious that it was some way-overdue homework which she had HAD to hand up tomorrow. "Ok, so what homework is it?"

"Math?"

"Sure... Now, let's see…" And with that, Yui began going through the homework, totally forgetting about the freezing Tasuki outside. So there he was, hiding at the balcony for nearly half-an-hour. Then, finally… "Ok, that should be it!"

Miaka yawned. "Thanks! Oh, I guess I should be heading off for bed!" Then suddenly, she perked up. "Oh! Wait! I wanna see if dear Taka is still awake!" With that, she turned around and ran towards the balcony to check if the room lights were still on.

Just then, a mental image of Tasuki with a blue nose standing there scowling at her, flashed through Yui's mind. "Uh, WAIT MIAKA!" She dashed forward to pull Miaka back, but the excited girl was too quick. Smacking her forehead, Yui braced for impact. Any minute now, Miaka was going to say…

"Snap, he's asleep already!" Miaka sighed disappointed as she grabbed her stuffs to leave.

_Huh?_ Yui thought.

"Guess I'll be going… Thanks Yui! Don't sleep too late!" With a quick hug, Miaka headed back to her room.

"Bye!" Puzzled, Yui closed the door before heading off to the balcony to check. To her utter shock, he was gone! Where? How…? "Tasuki?"

"BOO!" Suddenly, Tasuki jumped out of nowhere, making Yui gasp in surprise.

"How? But you…?"

Tasuki laughed at her loudly. "HA! You should really have seen your expression! Priceless! Well, it's only fair! YOU made me hide out here for nearly half-an-hour without a shirt! It's _COLD_ if you didn't realise…"

"OH! Sorry!" Yui exclaimed apologetically. "But hey! I still wanna know how you did that! The disappearing and reappearing act…?"

"Pish, it was…" Tasuki lowered his voice dramatically. "…MAGIC!"

Yui rolled her eyes at this, smiling slightly. "Riiight… Magic. Anyway, thanks for just now again."

"No problem…" Tasuki said as he walked out of the door. "Oh, and Yui… Take care. If there's anything you can call me or something. Here." He scribbled his number on a torn paper and passed it to her.

"Thanks… Good night," Yui nodded, before closing the room door. A warm feeling swept over her as she climbed into bed. Somehow, she knew that he meant what he said.

Outside, Tasuki was unlocking his room door, a smile plastered on his face.

Tonight, a new understanding, a new bond of trust was forged between them. Things were going to be different from now on.

A/N: nth much to say just glad there're still ppl reading this... lolx gosh I'm exhausted. Nitey! )


	23. orange

The bell rang, marking the start of a new school day as the students scrambled into their classes. Everything was as it should be- teachers demanding for homework, students sleeping in class, and so on… Except for one strange thing… And it bugged the gang a lot.

"Say, Tamahome…!" Miaka whispered, leaning over slightly, "Is it me or did Yui just wave and smiled at Tasuki?"

Bug-eyed Tamahome shook his head. "Nope, I see it too… Is that weird or is that weird?"

"Maybe it's something we ate," she whispered back.

"I know they haven't been quarrelling just as much recently, but this? This is freaky." Kouji commented from behind them.

"Maybe it's the calm before a storm, you know!" Nuriko piped in, unable to resist the topic. "Maybe we should brace for impact or something!"

Just then, a new voice piped in. "Brace for what impact?"

The four gossipers slowly looked up… At the face of their annoyed teacher, Mrs Hiekyo! "Uh oh…"

Mrs Hiekyo muttered a single word 'Out' and soon, the classroom was quiet again.

Staring up, Chichiri saw Yui and Tasuki exchange a glance, and they laughed. "Miracle, no da," he thought silently, smiling to himself as he diverted his attention back to the lesson.

In contrast to Chichiri's amazement was the dark look on the face of Kazuhiko, who was practically radiating off distaste towards the duo. He had been staring at them all morning and most unfortunately, had not witnessed a single argument between the two. He was disappointed… No, 'horrified' was the more fitting word. What in the world was happening? The balance of order was wrong! HE should be the one laughing and chatting away merrily with his _darling_ Yui-chan, not that grossly-bleached orange-haired punk. As Tasuki would rise to defend his hair, I'd like everybody to know (if you don't already know) that it is NATURALLY orange. Period.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Kazuhiko muttered irately under his breath, rubbing the bruise on his cheek absentmindedly. The ugly purplish blemish was evident on his cheek, his handsome face! Thankfully, he was tan, so it wasn't all that glaringly obvious, but yet, obvious enough for people to question about it. Just earlier that day, a teacher cornered him after class to question. He had hurriedly answered that it was because of a fall, and luckily, the teacher seemed convinced and left. It was good that he had such good reputation around school, with the teachers, with his buddies, and the ladies. He practically had the world wrapped around his fingers. But now, his nice cherry world was at stake, thanks to Tasuki.

Tasuki. Tasuki, who got into trouble with the school; Tasuki, whose grades paled in comparison to his own; Tasuki, who had a whole entire horde of admirers without trying; Tasuki excelled in basketball; Tasuki who won HIS Yui. The more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled over. How is it that Tasuki could have so effortlessly WON YUI! Lost in his own anger, he slammed the table hard as he got up and left the classroom, ignoring the stunned stares from his classmates and teacher.

Seki Kazuhiko curled his fist into a ball. Tasuki doesn't know who he's messing with. He had got to be joking if he thought he could play with fire. It was there that Kazuhiko made a silent declaration- "Yui is MINE."

------------------------

"One hour of standing outside the classroom. ONE HOUR! My feet's sooo numb!" Miaka whined as she packed her bag, then joining the others outside the classroom.

"Totally!" Nuriko agreed.

Yui laughed. "Oh, you guys! That's the punishment for talking in class!"

"Well, it was because of you two…" Miaka grumbled.

"Huh?" Yui asked, looking confused. "What are you talking about?"

But Tamahome, Nuriko, Kouji and Chichiri knew exactly what Miaka was talking about and were exchanging knowing smiles.

"Nothing!" Miaka responded back perkily. "Let's go eat now, ok? Our next break will be like, two hours later! I'm starving!"

"As usual!" the group exclaimed affectionately, laughing.

Just then, Yui stopped. "Gosh, wait! I left my notebook in class!"

But before she could move, Tasuki waved it in front of her. "Got it."

"Thank you!" Yui beamed joyfully as she took the notebook from him and tucked it away into her bag.

"You're such a careless cat!" Tasuki chuckled, ruffling her hair affectionately, to which, Yui just smiled to.

Such a simple scene, but it had once again rendered the gang silent. Finally, Kouji broke the silence, "OK! Let's go and eat!" With that, he marched the gang towards the canteen, with a smile on his face. Afterall, that was his best friend! If he wasn't the happiest person then who else could it be!

Throughout the break, the group ate their food rather quietly, still somewhat stunned by what they saw. The only four people that weren't so unnaturally quiet were Miaka (who was exclaiming how nice the ramen was), Tasuki, Kouji, and Yui (who were entertaining Miaka, stealing each other's fries, and wondering at the strange silence at the table).

"WAaAaaaH! TAMAHOME! THEY STOLE MY FRIES!" Miaka wailed, turning to look at Tamahome's packet of fries, then looking at him with teary, puppy-dog eyes.

"Hai, hai!" Tamahome responded in the 'I-had-already-expected-it-because-it-is-a-ritual' kind of manner, pushing his packet towards the delighted Miaka.

"Neh, Obake-chan! You're such a push-over!" Tasuki smirked.

"Harh? Obake? Orh, obake! Hahahaha!" Kouji roared in laughter upon the sudden realisation.

While the two ex-bandits were hugging each other in laughter, Nuriko calmly sipped his drink, commenting, "I wouldn't have said that if I were you…"

"Haha! Haha! Ehhh…?" Their laughter faded off as they turned slowly to look at the glowing Tamahome emitting red chi.

"What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me…?" Tamahome narrowed his eyes, bending the fork he had in his hand.

"Apparently he forgot what happened to him the last time he called Tamahome that, no da!" Chichiri shook his head.

"Ah. Gomen!" Tasuki responded quickly, looking back down at his food (in a cute-boy fashion). Beside him, Kouji just stopped and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets in a sheepish manner.

Amidst all the 'action', Yui simply smiled at them, somewhat confused, somewhat curious. Sometimes moments like that made her feel… Disconnected, somewhat. She never really got their inside jokes. Not like she had bothered to ask or something, it was just… Well, something held her back. Sure, they never treated her differently, nor did they do anything that out-rightly screamed "Outsider!" but somehow moments like that she would just step back and allow herself to be a mere spectator. Maybe it was what she did to them in the past that told her not to intrude in their happy 'Suzaku' moments. Guilt. Somehow she never quite forgot all of that. But she did hide it rather well, though…

Just then, the bell rang. And rang again. It was a sure signal that they were all going to be late for their respective classes. Hotohori and Chichiri hastened off to their class, while Miaka hurriedly stuffed the last piece of fries into her mouth before following Tamahome, Nuriko, Kouji, Tasuki and Yui to their next lesson venue.

"You alright?" Tasuki asked so suddenly and randomly that Yui almost forgot that they were rushing, and slowed down.

"Huh?" She glanced at him, uncertain of his question. "What do you mean?"

He stared at her for a moment as if scrutinising her face before finally shaking his head. "Oh, nothing."

Because of that fact that they were in the process of rushing to be on time, they just left it as that, with Yui silently pondering on the reason behind Tasuki's question.

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A/N: Thanks for the reviews:smiles: Sorry again for updating so slowly! Exam period again. WHOOSH! Lolx hope this chpt was ok… not very sure how I actually feel about it yet... ahhaz 


	24. Fly

The teacher droned on and on, something about molecular structures and sorts, but nothing was registering. It was almost agonising to wait for that damn bell. So, when it rang, it wasn't surprising that Kouji was among the first to spring up from his seat. They were finally released from this torture chamber!

It was the same old, same old. Miaka and Tamahome left to go on some date (well, the two certainly do not get sick of each other!), Yui headed off to the library for some research, leaving Nuriko, Chichiri, Tasuki and him to go for the weekly basketball practises.

But today, it was different. Today, Kouji had to talk to his buddy. Like now. "Yo, Genrou," he began in a serious tone, slowing down their pace slightly so that they could talk more privately.

"What?" Tasuki asked back, frowning a little at the sudden seriousness of his old time buddy.

"You… You like Yui, huh?"

Tasuki coughed, eyes bulging. "PLEH! Wha…What are you say- Of course not! You know I hate-" He trailed off, surprised at himself. No, 'hate' was most definitely the wrong word to use; he didn't hate her anymore. But then what? "What are you talking about?"

Kouji elbowed him teasingly. "Aww, c'mon! It's so apparent! I mean, you're suddenly not throwing insults at her, not complaining about her… And asides from just being nice to her (which I'm still rather shocked at), you actually seemed rather friendly with her! Spill, man! I've always suspected so…… But now, it's so obvious! You've fallen for that girl!"

Tasuki frowned, "Cheh! Then I must like everyone that I talk to? Nonsense."

He laughed. "Seriously, I'm your best friend. Would I not realise that something is going on? Can you honestly tell me that you don't feel a strand of **something** for her?"

"Is that so…" Tasuki muttered as a statement, almost as if to himself. His mind was inevitably brought back to the 'accidental kiss' (which had really been a lousy escape-from-Kazuhiko plan of Yui's) between him and Yui in the hallway quite sometime ago, the incidents of them acting civil to each other, and then there was yesterday night. Admittedly, something _had_ changed between them, but yet, it didn't really seem like anything at all. Was it like what Kouji had said, that he was starting to like her? Rolling his eyes, he snapped out of his thoughts, laughing at Kouji, "Sheesh, you sure spend a lot of time trying to play stupid mind games with me! What about that 'Melody-chan' that you've been talking about so much recently? Is there _something_ you should tell your best bud?"

"Me- Mel-chan? M-Mou! We were talking about you! Don't change the subject! And don't talk so loudly!" Kouji exclaimed nervously, turning red, which was rather uncharacteristic of the usually cool-and-in-control blue-haired bandit.

"I didn't know you stutter!" Tasuki smirked back. "And _'Mel-chan'_? I didn't know you guys were THAT familiar. What class is she from anyway?"

Kouji narrowed his eyes as he shook his head seriocomically. "You are one weird freak. Just a moment ago we were talking about your affair! And we are NOT changing the focus!"

Tasuki continued his taunting, refusing to back off and give Kouji's flaming face a break. _Who started it, anyway!_ Tasuki thought evilly. "You die! Since you're being so uncooperative today, I shall just have to ask someone else! And when they ask, I'll just casually remark, 'Oh, you know, _Scar_ _Face_'s crushing on her.' Muahahaha!" (Score one fore Tasuki!)

"Oei! What's with that attack on my scar! It's a battle scar worn on with pride! And don't you know chicks dig scars? They _always_ like a dangerous man." Kouji exclaimed indignantly.

"Da-Dangerous- WUHAHAHAHA!" Tasuki helplessly roared with laughter.

"Hey, stop laughing! It's true! And I bet if you just let me imitate my very cool scar on you, Yui just might show some interest in you!"

"WUAHA- HEY!" Tasuki's laughter died out. (Score one for Kouji!) "Hey! Stop with that joke about Yui already. Your sense of humour is eroding day by day, pal."

"I'll tell BOTH Yui and Melody about your undying love for them if you two don't hurry up! Now, c'mon, practise is starting soon!" Chichiri suddenly walked past them, with Nuriko howling with laughter.

Tasuki and Kouji exchanged looks. "Oei, it isn't like that!" they protested, hastening after them. Oh well, go Chichiri.

----------------

"EH? NANI?!!! AN EXPEDITION?!" The class exclaimed in unison rather dramatically.

"Hai, hai!" Mrs Hiekyo nodded, looking rather pleased with all the commotion her single remark ignited.

"Sensei! Trip to where?" Someone yelled back in response from the back of the class.

Looking all hyped up and excited herself, Mrs Hiekyo replied, "Paris! We'll be going there as a holiday sort of. The school wanted to take the opportunity of the upcoming 2-week holiday to give you all more exposure, and also, give you all a break. Ain't we lucky? It's an all-expense paid trip and we're one of the three classes of this level to be chosen!!!"

"Pa-ori?" Tasuki struggled with the pronunciation, looking rather confused.

"France," Yui filled in.

"EH?! France? Oh! History textbook!" Tasuki drew reference, a huge grin quietly exploding on his face as his excitement grew hard to contain. "FRANCE! Mou, Chichiri, Tama, Kouji, Nuriko! WE'RE GOING TO FRANCE!"

"YOSH! We've never even been outta Japan before! YES!" Tamahome pumped his hand into the air, glee evident on his face, as Tasuki and Kouji began their bandit dance in the background.

Miaka and Nuriko dragged Chichiri and Yui to form a circle, as they started bouncing around in excitement, screaming in a sing-song manner, "We're going to Paris; we're going to Paris!"

Of course, like this wacky group, the rest of the class was lost in their own form of celebration and animated chit-chatter. There were even these two students jumped on their desk. (Don't worry about the ceiling fan. There isn't any since the classroom is air-conditioned!) To say that the class was chaotic was really an understatement, but it wasn't as if Mrs Hiekyo was doing anything about it herself. Sitting at her desk, she was busy fantasising about the trip already! (All the glitz and glamour… drool)

Apparently, the excitement didn't die off yet by lunch break. Snippets of attempted French phrases could be heard all around the cafeteria, which only served to fuel the excitement of the group.

"Neh, neh! So how should we be bunking when we get there?" Miaka asked eagerly. "And who will be seating with whom on the plane?"

"Plane? You mean that bird-like thing in the picture at the back of our class?" Tasuki asked, then narrowing his eyes. "What is it like to be on a… plane?"

"Oh, you know," Miaka shrugged casually and spoke in the most matter-of-fact tone, "It'll just be like riding on Chichiri's magic flying cape (kesa), only much grander!"

(Fast-forwarding to the actual flight day…)

"MIAKA, YOU LIAR!" Tasuki practically roared while clutching tightly to the seat handles. "This is NOTHING like Chichiri's kesa!!!"

"Tasuki, you are claustrophobic!" Yui exclaimed beside him. She was mildly amused at this realisation. "Oh, the big, bad Tasuki is claustrophobic?"

"And also hydrophobic, no da!" Chichiri VERY HAPPILY supplied from the other side of Tasuki.

Tasuki narrowed his eyes. "This ain't funny ok! We bandits live on mountains, in large, open areas and FAR from the sea, so what's so strange about that!"

"Well, you buddy over there doesn't seem to have much trouble!" Yui poked him, tilting her head slightly towards the direction of an inquisitive Kouji sitting at the window seat with Nuriko, happily pulling out all the magazines and attempting to wear the headphones as sunglasses. In front of Nuriko and Kouji were Miaka and Tamahome, Miaka busily trying to give a quick 'airline passenger crash course' to the three men, in attempt to tell them that their (strange and embarrassing) behaviour would strike others as weird in this world. (And yes, a couple of passengers WERE already staring at them half in confusion, half in amusement!)

Tasuki glared at Yui, gripping the seat handles tighter still.

"Ok, ok, I'll let you seat on the outside. You should feel better." With that, Yui and Tasuki switched seats. Sure as Yui said, Tasuki DID feel much better.

"Orh, domo arigato."

"Aww, Yui-chan's so nice to you, no da!" Chichiri remarked with THAT ever-present smile on his face, then quickly switched on the monitor screen in front of him and began watching some random movies.

Tasuki ignored that comment as he began playing around with the buttons at the side of the handles. _Press_, the lights came on. _Press_, colours exploded on the monitor screen. _Press_, the lights went off. _Press_-

"OEI!" Yui exclaimed looking at him, pulling his finger away from the buttons. "That's the alarm to call for service-"

Before she could finish, a high-pitched voice rang over them, "Hi, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Oops, gomen." Tasuki looked at Yui sheepishly.

"Baka!" Yui whispered to him, then looked up and smiled sheepishly at the air stewardess. "Nope, gomen, we're all good. He just pressed the call button by accident."

"Well, since you're such a hottie, you can ring me anytime!" The air stewardess winked unbashfully at Tasuki before walking away to attend to the other flight passengers.

Tasuki's face was blushing red. "What was that all about? That's why I dislike girls. So damn flingy." He muttered to himself, then turned to Yui growling, "Is that what that button does? Remind me never to hit it."

Yui openly laughed at him. The way he looked so flustered and embarrassed by just a mere pass reminded her so much of a small boy! _I guess he IS kinda cute_, she admitted to herself.

"Or-Oei! Stop laughing already!" Tasuki said, looking all the more embarrassed, which only succeeded in making Yui laugh harder. "Hmmph!" He turned his attention to the monitor instead, his face still somewhat red.

Smiling to herself, she stole one more glance at the red-faced carrot-head before snuggling back into her seat and then talk with Chichiri about the movie showing on the channel 005.

In the meantime, all was not peaceful at Miaka's side. She was ABSOLUTELY exasperated at the three guys. Ok, she had anticipated Nuriko and Kouji acting all child-like around 'new' technology, but Taka! She didn't expect him to join them in their goofing around. Honestly! They were ringing for service at every little thing! No pillow. _Ring_. Where's the food? _Ring_. What's good on TV? _Ring_. Do you have souvenirs? _Ring_.

Boy, it was sure gonna be one long, long flight.

----------------------------

Author's note: Yay. Exams' coming to a close thus the longer update. Enjoy. –smiles-


	25. trip

It was a night flight so after the relatively ok dinner and HD ice-cream as dessert and the lack of new and interesting shows; Yui could feel her eyelids grow heavy. She needed a pillow. Turning over, she poked Tasuki sleepily. "Neh, can you help me call for a pillow?"

"WHAT?! No way." Tasuki exclaimed, crossing his arms. "No way as hell am I gonna press that button again!"

Yui chuckled. She had almost forgotten about that episode. Almost. Shrugging her shoulder, she turned to Chichiri instead, only to find that he was gone from his seat. Oh well. Just as her finger was about to touch the 'call' button, an air stewardess appeared at the aisle and handed her a pillow and a blanket. Blinking in surprise, Yui accepted it. Had she been that obvious? Looking up, she saw who occupied the adjacent seat to Chichiri's, and suddenly she didn't feel all that sleepy anymore. How long had he been looking over and why hadn't she noticed?

Kazuhiko simply smiled at her, but now, after what had happened between them before, she suddenly felt that the smile was horribly misplaced on his face. Feeling somewhat queasy, she dropped the pillow and blanket onto Chichiri's seat and turned back to the monitor screen.

"Daijoubu?" Tasuki asked in concern, frowning a little at her sudden loss of cheeriness.

"Hai, daijoubu…" she echoed, and then flashed him a reassuring smile.

Just then, Chichiri reappeared from wherever he had been. Picking up the pillow and the blanket, he sank down onto his seat. "Eh?" he sounded, referring to the pillow and the blanket.

"Heh, it's yours." Yui nodded.

"Ah, service is good, no da!" Chichiri chibi-grinned, hugging the pillow.

Glancing up and then quickly away, her eyes met with Kazuhiko's just for a second. And within that one second, she had seen everything she needed to know- he was annoyed and that might spell trouble. Closing her eyes, she tried to fall to sleep. She was strong. How could she let her fear control her? Why should she be afraid of him anyway? She had gone through way tougher situations. She had survived an almost rape (she gripped the hem of her shirt tightly at the mental recollection); she had survived the harsh manipulations by Nakago; she had survived heartbreaks; and sheesh! She had even survived being devoured up whole by Seiryuu! In comparison to this all, one mere Kazuhiko couldn't scare her! Then why did she have that feeling that something horrible was going to happen?

--------

Tasuki was grouchy. His shoulder was numb; his back was hurting due to the stiff position he had to sleep the entire night without moving. Daring to turn his head slightly and looking down, he saw that Yui had ABSOLUTELY NO trouble sleeping at all. Her eyes were still shut, her head leaning against his shoulder as she hugged a spare pillow that Chichiri had called for her yesterday.

Shaking his head, he silently chided himself for being such a softie (as much as he hated to admit due to his big-bad-bandit image). Yesterday night when it was getting ridiculously cold, casting a sleepy spell over the plane's passengers, she had been resting on Chichiri's shoulder. Then, somewhere along the way, Chichiri suddenly pushed her gently towards him, saying he had to go to the loo, and even after coming back, had refused to take her back, slyly saying, "No, no! She might wake up! Besides, Yui would feel more comfortable like this, no da! Don't you want her to sleep comfortably?" Eventually, Tasuki had given in, and now, with an aching shoulder, he secretly wondered if that was exactly the reason why that monk had so persistently passed him the job of being the 'big-pillow'.

Just then, he felt someone grab his left hand. Frowning slightly he looked up. He knew it. Darn Kouji was enthusiastically shaking his hand, mouthing 'congrats'. "One more word," Tasuki growled, "And I'll…" But before he could make a death threat, Kouji had already run back to his seat and Yui was finally waking up.

"Eh?" Yui muttered as she got up, blinking.

"Finally…" Tasuki grumbled, straightening up, rubbing his poor, abused shoulder.

"Oh, it's you," Yui said somewhat surprised, and quickly piecing the events together, she smiled. "Ah, thanks for the shoulder."

"You're welcome, I suppose," Tasuki muttered back, still rubbing his shoulder.

"Oh, look! Breakfast, no da!" Chichiri chirped, pointing to the cart of great smelling food being pushed down the aisle.

The breakfast was, admittedly, good, considering that it was 'airplane food'. It was a rather typical English breakfast, with scrambled eggs and sausages, and even smoked salmon salad! It was great. Oh, and they were landing soon, in perhaps another half-an-hour or so, which came as good news to the class who desperately needed some leg stretching exercises after the long flight hours. Meanwhile in that remaining half-an-hour time, nothing much really happened as most of them had their eyes glued to the screen, Yui included, who had momentarily forgotten about a certain Kazuhiko.

Finally, the airplane made a smooth landing and the announcement came on, informing the flight passengers about arriving at their destination, a quick report on the weather, and then a 'thank you for flying with JAL and we hope to see you again'. Upon the collection of their luggage bags (which was really a bit of a hassle since some bags look almost too similar for easy recognition) and after exchanging 'goodbyes' with their friends from the other two lucky classes, the class (consisting of the FY gang) headed off to their designated bus which was scheduled to transport them to their hotel.

"Eh, utsukushii!" Miaka exclaimed in awe, standing at the lobby of the hotel, while dragging her luggage along. And indeed it was. The hotel was absolutely stunning. It had the rough, cottage sort of feel, with bricked walls, a red embroidered carpet spread on the floors, and even a chandelier at the staircase area. Matching up, the rooms were beautiful too- the walls were covered with elaborate patterns, all the furniture were of wood, and even the plain-coloured curtained seemed to showcase the outside view like a painting. All in all, the entire hotel was possibly better than everyone had envisioned, considering that it was a budget hotel.

After everyone settled in, took a snooze or whatever they pleased in their own rooms, Yui, Miaka and gang met up to go for dinner. As they (the class) had arrived in the late afternoon, Mrs Hiekyo had declared the remaining hours of the day to be free time, stressing again that she _trusted_ them to behave like _mature_ adults, and that the scheduled tour would start the next morning. Clad in warm apparels, the FY gang waited impatiently at the lobby for the super late Ko-

"KOUJI!" they called disapprovingly.

"Heh heh, ah, gomen minna-san!" Kouji grinned sheepishly at them. "Hope you don't mind me asking a fellow schoolmate along!" Stepping aside, he gestured towards a petite-looking girl with cherry-red hair pulled back in a braid. "Everyone, this is Kirichi Melody."

"ORH!!!" Tasuki exclaimed rather loudly. "You're that Mel-chan- " His sentence was left hanging as Kouji quickly tackled him into silence.

"Heh, don't mind this doofus here," Kouji said to Melody. "Oh, by the way, this is Tasuki. And that's Miaka, Tamahome, Hotohori, Chichiri and Yui."

"Oh, hi!" Melody waved pleasantly. There was something gentle and soothing about this girl that immediately won the gang over. It was certainly not hard to see why Kouji was so crazy about her.

"Ok, let's go! So, Melody…" Miaka, being the most enthusiastic one immediately lapsed into a conversation with the new friend, as the rest followed, with Tasuki and Kouji still somewhat lagging behind.

Making sure they were somewhat out of earshot, Tasuki nudged Kouji. "Eh, so today's asking her along is sort of like a 'meet the family session' to get our approval right? Well, your 'Mel-chan' seems like a nice girl, so you've got my 'approval stamp'! So when are you gonna ask her?"

Punching lightly him on the shoulder, Kouji laughed back. "Well, thanks. Hmmm, soon, perhaps. Make it official kind of."

"Ah well, then, I guess I'll have to refer to her as 'sao3 zi4' (sister-in-law in Chinese) right!" Tasuki joked.

"You bet!" Kouji laughed, slapping hands with him. Then, lowering his voice, he teased, "You know, if you're gonna 'chase' Yui, I would give you _my _stamp of approval too!"

At that, Tasuki's face visibly coloured. "Cheh! What are you talking about…?"

Kouji chuckled at Tasuki's uneasiness, and decided to push on further. "Ah! You can deny it, but one day, ONE DAY, you WILL succumb to the magic LOVE brings!" He exclaimed dramatically, gesturing in a rather theatrical manner. "The 'how-do-I-live-without-you'! The 'all-you-need-is-love'! The 'it's-the-way-you-make-me-feel'! Ah, sweet love!"

Tasuki rolled his eyes and walked away.

---------

Author speak: Ok, yar if u have guessed by now I'm realliii having a humongous writers block. :X but nevertheless, since I've said that I wouldn't abandon this story…. Yeh. Though it's gonna take awhile to get it rolling along again.


	26. night

After the simple dinner at the restaurant around the corner, the night rounded off with a slow walk along river bank. Yes, the night was almost over and apparently, Kouji hadn't made any move yet. No heart-thumping confessions, no lip-locking, no cuddling or even hand-holding. And this was getting the gang impatient. Was Kouji getting cold-feet? Or maybe, (they silently decided), he just needed a little shove. And that was exactly what they gave him. Tasuki gave Kouji a shove towards Melody, and almost telepathically, he and everyone else disappeared as fast as they could. Miaka and Tamahome ran far ahead, whereas Chichiri, Tasuki and Yui fell behind the bushes in frenzy to find a convenient hiding place. Well, somehow in that frenzy, Yui fell on top of Tasuki who fell onto Chichiri. Ouch.

Now left alone, the soon-to-be couple could only look at each other in embarrassment. Then, Kouji was the first to break the awkward silence. "Ano… I have something to say…"

From the bushes, Yui, Tasuki, and Chichiri watched on in anticipation. This was it, the love confession! But no, they were wrong.

"…what I want to say is… You guys can just come out." Kouji finished.

"EHHH?!" This was not want they had expected. Sighing, Chichiri said, "Kouji is a coward, no da!"

"YEAAA!" Yui agreed heartily, with Tasuki nodding beside her, both in chibi-form.

Looking at each other, both Kouji and Melody started laughing heartily. "Seriously," Kouji managed between laughs, "THAT was funny! I mean the reaction on all of your faces, anticipating that something would happen? Man! It was hilarous!"

Confused, Tasuki, Yui and Chichiri just stared back. "What?"

"Ok, yes, Melody and I are a couple. Officially now, anyway. I actually asked her during dinner."

"EH?? Dinner? When?! How come we all never noticed??" The trio exclaimed.

Melody smiled coyly as she showed them a paper napkin, with Kouji's handwriting scrawled on it.

"It's just that you all were expecting so much and all that we decided to trick you guys." The couple explained, laughing together.

"Cheh! And I got sat on by a hippo for nothing." Tasuki grumbled.

"Just who are you calling a hippo?" Yui demanded, hitting Tasuki playfully on the arm.

"Ah, the lovers bicker. We should leave them to their private session of bickering." Chichiri laughed as the other couple nodded in agreement and quickly made themselves scarce by running ahead to join Taka and Miaka, leaving the bickering duo behind.

"Eh? Where did Chichiri, Kouji and Melody disappear to?" Yui asked, looking around for the others after Tasuki and Yui had called truce to their little "argument".

"Shoot! I think we've just been left behind on purpose. We should probably move faster." Tasuki replied as the duo quickened their pace.

"Or we may get lost?" Yui teased.

"Cheh! Are you forgetting that you are with an experienced bandit? A bandit like me never gets lost! After all, the wilderness is what we bandits call home." Tasuki boasted. Yui rolled her eyes at him but decided not to reply him for fear of further boosting his ego without any intention. The couple continued the rest of the journey back to the hotel in silence. As for the rest of the FY gang and Melody, they hurried back to the hotel and made sure to stay out of the couple's way for fear of facing 'immediate death' for setting the two of them up yet again.

--

"This is so no fun. Now, are you _sure _you remember where the hotel is?" Yui asked. "I don't remember crossing this bridge."

Tasuki scowled. "You don't second-guess a bandit. We're not lost. Just… Taking a longer route. You know, lighten up, and enjoy the scenery!"

Yui laughed. "Right. Did you bring your cell? I think it would be wiser to call the others."

"Um… Sure, but I don't see the need for it…" Tasuki grumbled as he pulled out his cell phone. "… Anyway, it's out of battery."

"What?!" Yui snatched his cell phone and stared hard at it. True enough, his cell phone was flat.

"Well, I don't see how staring at my cell phone will bring it back to life," Tasuki teased as he kept his cell phone back into his pocket.

"Haha," Yui said dryly but had to smile at his attempt in calming her down. "So how now, Mr I'm-Such-An-Experienced-Bandit-We-Won't-Get-Lost? Any idea?"

"Well, for starters, we can try and locate the main road first. That way, we can find our way back better." Tasuki instructed. Nodding her head, Yui obediently followed Tasuki and started looking for a way towards the main road.

While finding their way through the forest, Yui couldn't help but admire Tasuki. Despite them being hopelessly lost, Tasuki proved to be still in touch with his bandit ways. In no time at all, he successfully led them to the main road where they managed to hitch a ride back to the hotel. She didn't feel scared at all being lost in the forest. Instead, his presence made her feel safe. His messy orange hair and serious face made him look so adorable, she had to resist the urge of running her fingers through his hair. _Wait, what was I thinking? _Yui thought in alarm. Since when did she think of him as cute? Shaking her head, she forced herself not to look at Tasuki as they entered the hotel to head back to their respective rooms.

"Ok, so here we are." Tasuki's voice interrupted her thoughts. Looking up, Yui was surprised and almost reluctant to be standing right outside her room.

"Um… Yeah," she agreed. "Well, thanks for finding our way back. We almost had to camp outside in the wilderness! Haha…" Yui laughed lamely, trying hard to disguise her awkwardness with him.

"Ok, go get some sleep, shorty." Tasuki teased as he ruffled her hair affectionately before giving her a peck on the cheek which took her by surprise.

"Umm… Haha, good night. See you tomorrow." Yui laughed nervously as she retreated back into her room and closed the door behind her. Her fingers touched her cheek, tracing the ghost of his kiss, still feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Then, at the sudden realisation of her thoughts, she couldn't help but blush. What was wrong with her? It was just… Tasuki. Shaking her head, Yui changed into her PJs and crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. Tomorrow was going to be a long day- the official 'study' part of the trip was starting. Anyway, she was tired already; sleep should claim her anytime.

But an hour past, and then another hour, and Yui was still awake. Sighing, she shifted in her bed again. Why was it affecting her still? It was merely a peck on the cheek, a gesture of friendship. That was exactly what they were- friends. So she shouldn't be losing any sleep over this. And yet… She blushed at the memory of the kiss. She felt like a little girl at the candy store. How silly.

--

_Shoot! Why did I do that?_ Meanwhile, Tasuki was smacking himself in the head with his pillow for the scene earlier. It was already past midnight in Paris and still, Tasuki had trouble sleeping, not due to jet lag. Being an ex-badit, he had been trained to be adaptable to his surroundings so sleeping at weird hours shouldn't be a problem to him. Yet here he was, wide awake, still troubled by the earlier scene. _Why did I kiss her? It's not like I fancy her, right? _Tasuki groaned. I hope I didn't scare her away. _After all, it's just a friendly kiss, right?_

The scene from earlier kept replaying on and on in his mind, just like a jammed tape recorder. He could still smell the strawberry-scented soap that she used. His head was full of images of Yui smiling, Yui blushing, Yui laughing… Yui, Yui, Yui! _Damn! I really need to sleep!_ Tasuki groaned as he buried his face into his pillow and continued to toss and turn in bed, trying to sleep. Now, if he could only find the 'stop' button.


End file.
